312. 9S 
1868 


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AUTHENTICATED  COPY 


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LAST     W  I  L  TJ    AND     TESTA  M  I :  X  T 


GEORGE]  WASHINGTON, 

OF  MT.  VERNON, 


EMBRACING   A  SCHEDULE  OF   HIS  REAL   ESTATE 
AND  NOTES  THERETO  BY  THE  TESTATOR. 


TO    WHICH   IS   ADDED 
HISTORICAL  NOTES  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES, 

I!V  THE  PUBLISHER. 


A.  JACKSON,  PUBLISHER, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

1868. 


AUTHENTICATED  COPY 

OF  THB 

LAST    WILL    AND     TESTAMENT 

OF 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

OF  MT.  VEENON, 


EMBEACING-  A  SCHEDULE  OF  HIS  EEAL  ESTATE 
AND  NOTES  THEEETO  BY  THE  TESTATOR 


TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED 
HISTORICAL  NOTES  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES, 

BY  THE  PUBLISHER. 


A.  JACKSON,  PUBLISHER, 
WASHINGTON,  Di  0. 

1803. 

SAM'L  FOLXISUQRN,  PRINTER , 


TO 

W.  W.  CORCORAN,  Esq.; 

OF 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Thit  Volume  is  respectfully  Dedicated  by  the 


PUBLISHER. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  £onfctesa,  A-  D.,  1868,  t»y 

A.  JACKSON,  / 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Superior  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 


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STATE  OF  VIRGINIA,) 

FAIRFAX  COUNTY,        j  J 


I  Ferdinand  D  Richardson 
Clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  said  County, 
do  hereby  Certify  that,  this  Copy  of  the 
Last  Will  and  Testament  of  General 
George  Washington  with  the  Schedule 
and  his  notes  thereto  attached,  has 
been  carefully  examined  and  compared 
with  the  Original  now  on  file  in  my 
Office  among  the  Records  of  the  said 
Court,  and  further,  that,  I  find  the 
same  to  be  in  all  respects  a  correct 
copy  of  the  same. 

»«w»i 

In  Testimony  whereof 
I  have  hereunto  subscribed 
my  name  and  affixed  the 
seal  of  the  said  Court  this 
14  day  of  April  A  D  1868, 
and  in  the  92  year  of  the 
Commonwealth. 

F.  D.  RICHARDSON  c  c 


PREFACE. 

The  last  Will  and  Testament  of  Washington,  never  befora  published  entire, 
is  contained  in  this  vo.lume.  It  would  be  useless  to  enter  into  an  explanation 
of  the  motives  which  have  induced  its  publication — but  it  may  be  remarked 
that  the  design  was  conceived  during  the  late  war,  and  was  suggested  by  the 
declaration  in  the  public  journals,  oft  repeated  and  seldom  contradicted  that, 
"the  will  had  been  abstracted  from  the  clerks  office  of  Fairfax  County  Court,  by 
the  Rebel  clerk,  sold  and  was  on  exhibition  in  the  British  museum."  A  recent 
perusal,  inspection  and  facilities  for  copying  the  same,  have  enabled  the  publish- 
er to  reproduce  it  here.  The  mutilated  condition  of  the  manuscript  from  fre- 
quent handling,  rendered  it  impracticable  to  take  a  lithographic  copy;  but  the 
pages  given  in  this  volume  present  the  same  number  of  lines  to  the  page,  the 
same  words  upon  each  line,  and  the  same  quaint  orthography  as  the  original,  and 
at  the  bottom  of  each  page  a  fac  simile  of  the  signature  of  the  Testator  as  it 
appears  in  the  manuscript  Will. 

Apart  from  the  interest  which  must  attach  to  the  will  of  Washington  as  a 
portion  of  his  private  history,  the  reader  will  not  fail  to  remark  its  appropriate 
teachings  in  regard  to  the  great  social  and  political  problem  which  is  yet  but 
half  solved,  and  which  for  years  to  come,  will  continue  to  tax  the  sagacity,  the 
forbearance,  and  the  patriotism  of  the  whole  people. 

FAIRFAX  C.  H.,  VA.,  May,  1868. 

THE  PUBLISHER. 


IN  THE  NAME  OF  GOD,  AMEN! 


I  GEORGE  WASHINGTON1  of  Mount 
Vernon,8  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
and  lately  President  of  the  same 
do  make  ordain  and  declare  this 
Instrument,  which  is  written  with 
my  own  hand  and  every  page3  there- 
-of  subscribed  with  my  name  to  be 
my  last  Will  &  Testament,4  revo- 
-kjng  all  others. 

.    — Imprimus — All  my  debts,  of  which  there 
are  but  few,  and  none  of  magnitude, 
are  to  be  punctually  and  speedily  paid, 
and  the  legacies  hereinafter  bequeathed 
are  to  be  discharged  as  soon  as  cir- 
-cumstances  will  permit,  and  in  the 
manner  directed. 

ITEM — To  my  dearly  beloved  wife,  Mar- 
-tha  Washington5  I  give  and  bequeath 
the  use  profit  and  benefit  of  my  whole 
Estate,  real  and  personal,  fer  the  term 
of  her  natural  life,  except  such  parts 
thereof  as  are  specially  disposed 
of  hereafter, — My  improved  lot  in 
the  Town  of  Alexandria,  situated  on 
Pitt  and  Cameron  Streets,  I  give  to  her  & 
her  heirs  forever,  as  I  also  do  my 


household  and  kitchen  furniture  of 
every  sort  and  kind  with  the  liquors  and 
groceries  which  may  be  on  hand  at 
the  time  of  my  decease,  to  be  used  and 
disposed  of  as  she  may  think  proper 

ITEM — Upon  the  decease  of  my  wife  it  is 
my  will  and  desire,  that  all  the  slaves 
which  I  hold  in  my  own  right  shall 
receive  their  freedom6 — To  emanci- 
-pate  them  during  her  life,  would  tho 
earnestly  wished  by  me,  be  attended 
with  such  insuperable  difficulties,  on 
account  of  their  intermixture  by  mar- 
-riages  with  the  Dower  negroes7  as  to 
excite  the  most  painful  sensations, — 
if  not  disagreeable  consequences  from 
the  latter  while  both  descriptions  are 
in  the  occupancy  of  the  same  propri- 
-etor,  it  not  being  in  my  power  under 
the  tenure  by  which  the  dower  Negroes 

are  held  to  manumit  them And 

whereas  among  those  who  will  re- 
ceive freedom  according  to  this  de- 
-vise  there  may  be  some  who  from 
old  age,  or  bodily  infirmities  &  others 
who  on  account  of  their  infancy,  that 
will  be  unable  to  support  themselves,8 
it  is  my  will  and  desire  that  all  who 
come  under  the  first  and  second  descrip- 
tion shall  be  comfortably  clothed  and 
fed  by  my  heirs  while  they  live  and 


that  such  of  the  latter  description  as 
have  no  parents  living,  or  if  living 
are  unable,  or  unwilling  to  provide          •*" 
for  them,  shall  be  bound  by  the  Court       * 
until  they  shall  arrive  at  the  age  of 
twenty  five  years,  and  in  cases  where 
no  record  can  be  produced  whereby 
their  ages  can  be  ascertained,  the  Judg- 
-ment  of  the  Court  upon  it's  own  view 
of  the  subject  shall  be  adequate  and 

final. The  negroes  thus  bound  are 

(by  their  masters  or  mistresses)  to  be 
taught  to  read  and  write9  and  to  be  brought 
up  to  some  useful  occupation,  agree- 
-ably  to  the  laws  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Virginia,  providing  for  the  support 
of  orphans  and  other  poor  children 
— and  I  do  hereby  expressly  forbid 
the  sale  or  transportation  out  of  the 
said  Commonwealth  of  any  Slave  I  may 
die  possessed  of,  under  any  pretence 
whatsoever — and  I  do  moreover 
most  positively,  and  most  solemnly 
enjoin  it  upon  my  Executors  hereafter 
named,  or  the  survivors~of  them 
to  see  that  this  clause  respecting  slaves 
and  every  part  thereof  be  religious- 
-ly  fulfilled  at  the  Epoch  at  which  it 
is  directed  to  take  place  without  evasion 
neglect  or  delay  after  the  crops 
which  may  then  may  be  on  the  ground  are 
harvested,  particularly  as  it  respects — 


the  aged  and  infirm,  seeing  that  a  re- 
gular and  permanent  fund  be  established 
for  their  support  so  long  as  there  are 
subjects  requiring  it,  not  trusting  to 
the  uncertain  provisions  to  be  made  by 

individuals. And  to  my  mulatto 

man,  William  (calling  himself  William 
Lee10)  I  give  immediate  freedom  or  if 
he  should  prefer  it  (on  account  of  the 
accidents  which  have  befallen  him  and 
which  have  rendered  him  incapable  of 
walking  or  of  any  active  employment) 
to  remain  in  the  situation  he  now  is, 
it  shall  be  optional  in  him  to  do  so — In 
either  case  however  I  allow  him  an 
annuity  of  thirty  dollars  during  his 
natural  life  which  shall  be  indepen- 
dent of  the  victuals  and  cloaths  he  has 
been  accustomed  to  receive  ;   if  he  chuses 
the  last  alternative,  but  in  full  with 
his  freedom,  if  he  prefers  the  first,  and  this 
I  give  him  as  a  testimony  of  my  sense 
of  his  attachment  to. me  and  for  his 
faithful  services  during  the  revolutionary 
War. 

ITEM — To  the  Trustees,  (Governors  or  by  what- 
soever other  name  they  may  be  designated) 
of  the  Academy  in  the  Town  of  Alexan- 
dria,11 I  give  and  bequeath,  in  Trust, 
Four  thousand  dollars,  or  in  other 
words  twenty  of  the  shares  which  I 


hold  in  the  Bank  of  Alexandria  to- 
-wards  the  support  of  a  Free  School,  es- 
tablished at,  and  annexed  to  the  said  Acad- 
-emy  for  the  purpose  of  educating  such 
orphan  children,  or  the  children  of  such 
other  poor  and  indigent  persons  as  are 
unable  to  accomplish  it  with  their  own 
means,  and  who  in  the  judgment  of 
the  trustees  of  the  said  Seminary,  are 
best  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  this  donation- 
T^he  aforesaid  twenty  shares 
I  give  and  bequeath  in  perpetuity — the 
dividends  only  of  which  are  to  be  drawn 
for  and  applied  by  the  said  Trustees 
for  the  time  being,  for  the  uses  above 
mentioned,  the  stock  to  remain  entire 
and  untouched  unless  indications  of 
a  failure  of  the  said  Bank  should  be 
so  apparent  or  discontinuance  thereof 
should  render  a  removal  of  this  fund 
necessary,  in  either  of  these  cases  the 
amount  of  the  stock  here  devised  is  to 
be  vested  in  some  other  bank  or  public 
institution  whereby  the  interest 
may  with  regularity  and  certainty  be 

drawn  and  applied  as  above. And 

to  prevent  misconception,  my  mean- 
-ing  is,  and  is  hereby  declared  to  be  that, 
these  twenty  shares  are  in  lieu  of  and 
not  in  addition  to  the  Thousand  pounds 
given  by  a  missive  letter  some  years  ago 
in  consequence  whereof  an  an- 


-nuity  of  fifty  pounds  has  since  been 

paid  toward  the  support  of  this  institution 


ITEM — Whereas  by  a  law  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Virginia,  enacted  in  the  year 
1785,  the  Legislature  thereof  was 
pleased  (as  an  evidence  of  it's 
approbation  of  the  services  I 
had  rendered  the  public  during  the 
Revolution — and  partly,  I  believe  in 
consideration  of  my  having  suggested 
the  vast  advantages  which  the  com- 
-munity  would  derive  from  the  exten- 
-sion  of  its  Inland  navigation,  under 
Legislative  patronage)  to  present  me  with 
one  hundred  shares,  of  one  hundred  dollars 
each,  in  the  incorporated  company 
established  for  the  purpose  of  exten- 
ding the  navigation  of  James  River 
from  tide  water  to  the  mountains ; 
and  also  with  fifty  shares  of  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling  each  in  the 
corporation  of  another  company  like- 
-wise  established  for  the  similar  pur- 
-pose  of  opening  the  navigation  of  the 
River  Potomac  from  tide  water  to 
Fort  Cumberland;12  the  acceptance 
®f  which,  although  the  offer  was  high- 
ly honorable  and  grateful  to  my 
feelings,  was  refused,  as  inconsistent 
with  a  principle  which  I  had  adop- 


-ted,  and  had  never  departed  from,  namely 
not  to  receive  pecuniary  compensation 
for  any  services  I  could  render 
my  country  in  it's  arduous  strug- 
-gle  with  Great  Britain  for  it's  Rights ; 
and  because  I  had  evaded  similar  prop- 
ositions from  other  States  in  the  Union 
— adding  to  this  refusal  however  an 
intimation,  that,  if  it  should  be  the 
pleasure  of  the  Legislature  to  permit  me  to 
appropriate  the  said  shares  to  public 
uses,  I  would  receive  them  on  those  terms 
with  due  sensibility — and  this  it  having 
consented  to  in  flatering  terms, 
as  will  appear  by  a  subsequent  law 
and  sundry  resolutions,  in  the  most 
ample  and  honorable  manner,  I 
proceed  after  this  recital  for  the 
more  correct  understanding  of  the 
case  to  declare — 

That  as  It  has  always  .been 
a  source  of  serious  regret  with  me 
to  see  the  youth  of  these  United  States 
sent  to  foreign  countries  for  the  pur- 
-pose  of  education,  often  before  their 
minds  were  formed  or  they  had  im- 
-bibed  any  adequate  ideas  of  the  hap- 
-piness  of  their  own,  contracting  too 
frequently  not  only  habits  of  dissipa- 
tion and  extravagence^  but  principles 
unfriendly  to  Republican  Goevernm>t 
and  to  the  true  and  genuine  liberties 


8 

of  mankind,  which  thereafter  are 

rarely  overcome. For  these  reasons 

it  has  been  my  ardent  wish  to 
see  a  plan  devised  on  a  liberal  scale 
which  would  have  a  tendency  to  spread 
systamatic  ideas  through  all  parts 
of  this  rising  Empire,  thereby  to  do 
away  local  attachments  and  State 
prejudices  as  far  as  the  nature  of 
things  would,  or  indeed  ought  to  ad- 
-mit,  from  our  national  councils — 
— Looking  anxiously  forward 
to  the  accomplisment  of  so  desira- 
-ble  an  object  as  this  is,  (in  my  esti- 
-mation)  my  mind  has  not  been  able  to 
contemplate  any  plan  more  likely 
to  effect  the  measure  than  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  University  in 
a  central  part  of  the  United  States 
to  which  the  youth  of  fortune  and 
talents  from  all  parts  thereof  might 
be  sent  for  the  completion  of  their 
education  in  all  the  branches  of 
polite  literature  in  arts  and  sciences 
— in  acquiring  knowledge  in  the  prin- 
-ciples  of  Politics  and  good  Goverment 
— and  (as  a  matter  of  infinite  impor- 
-portance  in  my  judgment)  by  associ- 
ating with  each  other  and  forming  friend- 
ships in  Juvenile  years,  be  enabled 
to  free  themselves  in  a  proper  degree 
from  those  local  prejudices  and  habit- 


-ual  jealousies  which  have  just  been 
mentioned  and  which  when  carried  to 
excess  are  never  failing  sources  of 
disquietude  to  the  Public  mind  and 
pregnant  of  mischievous  consequen- 
ces to  this  country: — Under  these 
impressions  so  fully  dilated, — 

ITEM — I  give  and  bequeath  in  per- 

-petuity  the  fifty  shares  which  I  hold 
in  the  Potomac  Company  (under  the 
aforesaid  Acts  of  the  Legislature  of  Vir- 
-einia)  towards  the  endowment 

D  / 

of  a  University    to  be  established 
within  the  limits  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  General  Government,  if  that 
Government  should  incline  to  ex- 
-tend  a  fostering  hand  towards  it, 
— and  until  such  seminary  is  estab- 
lished, and  the  funds  arising  on  these 
shares  shall  be  required  for  its  support, 
my  further  will  and  desire  is 
that  the  profit  accruing  therefrom 
shall  whenever  the  dividends  are 
made,  be  laid  out  in  purchasing 
stock  in  the  Bank  of  Columbia  or 
some  other  Bank  at  the  discretion 
of  my  Executors,  or  by  the  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States  for  the  time  being 
under  the  direction  of  Congress,  provided 
that  Honorable  body  should 


10 

patronize  the  measure.     And  the  divi- 
-dends  proceeding  from  the  purchase 
of  such  Stock  is  to  be  vested  in  more 
Stock  and  so  on  until  a  sum  ade- 
-quate  to  the  accomplishment  of  the 
object  is  obtained,  of  which  I  have 
not  the  smallest  doubt  before  many 
years  passes  away,  even  if  no  aid 
or  encouraged  is  given  by  Legisla- 
tive authority  or  from  any  other  source. 

ITEM — The  hundred  shares  which  I  held 
in  the  James  River  Company  I  have 
given  and  now  confirm  in  perpetuity 
to  and  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  Lib- 
erty Hall  Academy14  in  the  County  of 
Rockbridge,  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Virga 

ITEM — I  release  exonorate  and  discharge 

the  estate  of  my  deceased  brother,  Sam- 
uel Washington  from  the  payment, 
of  the  money  which  is  due  to  me  for 
the  land  I  sold  to  Philip  Pendleton 
(lying  in  the  County  of  Berkley)  who 
assigned  the  same  to  him  the  said 
Samuel,  who  by  agreement  was  to  pay 
me  therefor. — And  whereas  by  some 
contract  (the  purport  of  which  was 
never  communicated  to  me)  between 
the  said  Samuel  and  his  son  Thornton 
Washington,  the  latter  became  pos- 
sessed of  the  aforesaid  land  without 


<=i&&2/££ 


,— c 
x    *y 


II 


any  conveyance  having  passed  from 

me  either  to  the  said  Pendleton  the 

said  Samuel  or  the  said  Thornton  and 

without  any  consideration  having 

been  made,  by  which  neglect  neither 

the  legal  or  equitable  title  has  been 

alienated; — it  rests  therefore  with  me 

to  declare  my  intentions  concerning 

the  premises — And  these  are  to 

give  and  bequeath  the  said  land  to 

whomsoever  the  said  Thornton  Washington 

O 

(who  is  also  dead)  devised  the  same 
or  to  his  heirs  forever,  if  he 
died  intestate. — Exonerating  the  estate 
of  the  said  Thornton,  equally  with  that 
.of  the  said  Samuel  from  payment  of 
the  purchase-money,  which  with  In- 
terest agreeably  to  the  original  con- 
-tract  with  the  said  Pendleton  would 
amount  to  more  than  a  thousand  pounds15 

And  whereas  two  other  sons  of 

my  said  deceased  brother  Samuel, — 
namely,  George  Steptoe  Washington 
and  Laurence  Augustine  'Washington 
were  by  the  decease  of  those  to  whose 
care  they  were  committed,  brought  under 
my  protection,  and  in  consequence 
have  occasioned  advances  on  my 
part  for  their  education  at  college 
and  other  schools  for  their  board 
claothing  and  other  incidental 
expenses  to  the  amount  of  near 


12 

five  thousand  dollars  over  and  above 
the  sums  furnished  by  their  estate,  wch 
sum  may  be  inconvenient  for  them 
or  their  father's  Estate  to  refund. — 
I  do  for  these  reasons  acquit  them 
and  the  said  Estate  from  the  pay- 
-ment  thereof. — My  intention  being 
that  all  accounts  between  them  and 
me  and  their  father's  Estate  and  me 
shall  stand  balanced. — 

ITEM — The  balance  due  to  me  from  the 
Estate  of  Bartholomew  Dandridge  de- 
-ceased,  (my  wife's  brother)  and  which 
amounted  on  the  first  day  of  October, 
1795,  to  Four  hundred  and  twenty  five 
pounds  (as  will  appear  by  an  account 
rendered  by  his  deceased  son,  John 
Dandridge,  who  was  the  acting  Executor 
of  his  father's  will)  I  release  &  acquit 

from  the  payment  thereof. And 

the  negros  (then  thirty  three  in  num- 
-ber)  formerly  belonging  to  the  said 
Estate  who  were  taken  in  Execution, — 
sold — and  purchased  in,  on  my 
account  in  the  year  and  ever 

since  have  remained  in  the  posses- 
-sion  and  to  the  use  of  Mary,  widow 
of  the  said  Bartholomew  Dandridge 
with  their  increase,  it  is  my  will  and 
desire,  shall  continue  and  be  in  her 
possession,  without  paying  hire  or  making 


'3 

compensation  for  the  same  for 
the  time  past  or  to  come  during 
her  natural  life,  at  the  expiration 
of  which,  I  direct  that  all  of  them  who 
are  forty  years  old  and  upwards  shall 
receive  their  freedom,  all  under  that  age 
and  above  sixteen  shall  serve  seven 
years  and  no  longer,  and  all  under 
sixteen  years  shall  serve  until  they 
are  twenty-five  years  of  age  and  then 

be  free.16 And  to  avoid  disputes 

respecting  the  ages  of  any  of  these  negrqs 
they  are  to  be  taken  to  the  Court  of  the 
County  in  which  they  reside  and  the 
judgment  thereof  in  this  relation 
shall  be  final  and  a  record  thereof 
made,  which  may  be  adduced  as 
evidence  at  any  time  thereafter  if 
disputes  should  arise  concerning  the  same. 

And  I  further  direct  that  the  heirs 

of  the  said  Bartholomew  Dandridge  shall 
equally  share  the  benefits  arising  from 
the  services  of  the  said  negros  ac- 
cording to  the  tenor  of  this  devise  upon  the 
decease  of  their  mother. 

ITEM — If  Charles  Carter  who  inter- 

-married  with  my  niece,  Betty  Lewis,  is  not 
sufficiently  secured  in  the  title  to  the  lots 
he  had  of  me  in  the  town  of  Fredericks- 
-burg,  it  is  my  will  and  desire  that  my 
Executors  shall  make  such  conveyances 


of  them  as  the  law  requires  to  render  it 
perfect. 

ITEM — To  my  nephew,  Wm.  Augustine 

Washington  and  his  heirs  (if  he  should 
conceive  them  to  be  objects  worth  prosecuting) 
and  to  his  heirs  a  lot  in  the  town  of  Man- 
-chester  (opposite  to  Richmond)  No.  265 — 
drawn  on  my  sole  account  and  also 
the  tenth  of  one  or  two  hundred  acre  lots 
and  two  or  three  half-acre  lots  in  the 
city  and  vicinity  of  Richmond,  drawn  in  part- 
nership with  nine  others,  all  in  the 
lottery  of  the  deceased  William  Byrd 
are  given. — as  is  also  a  lot  which  I 
purchased  of  John  Hood  conveyed  by 
William  Willie  and  Saml  Gordon 
Trustees  of  the  said  John  Hood,  num- 
-bered  139  in  the  town  of  Edenburgh  in  the 
County  of  Prince  George,  State  of  Virginia. 

ITEM — To  my  nephew,  Bushrod  Washington17 
I  give  and  bequeath  all  the  papers 
in  my  possession  which  relate  to  my 
civil  and  military  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  this  Country  : — I  leave  to  him 
also  such  of  my  private  papers  as  are 
worth  preserving ; — and  at  the  decease 
of — wife  and  before,  if  she  is  not 
inclined  to  retain  them,  I  give  and  bequeath 
my  library  of  Books  and  pamphlets  of 
every  kind. 


ITEM — Having  sold  lands  which  I  pos- 
sessed in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania 
and  part  of  a  tract  held  in  equal 
right,  with  George  Clinton,  late  Gover- 
nor of  New  York,  in  the  State  of  New- 
York ; — My  share  of  land  and  interest 
in  the  great  Dismal  Swamp  and  a 
tract  of  land  which  I  owned  in  the 
County  of  Gloucester ; — withholding 
the  legal  titles  thereto  until  the  con- 
sideration money  should  be  paid — 
And  having  moreover  leased  and 
conditionally  sold,  (as  will  appear 
by  the  tenor  of  the  said  leases)  all  my 
lands  upon  the  Great  Kanhawa^  and 
the  tract  upon  Difficult  Run  in 
the  County  of  Loudon,19  it  is  my  will 
and  direction  that  whensoever  the 
contracts  are  fully  and  respectively 
complied  with  according  to  the  spirit, 
true  intent,  and  meaning  thereof 
on  the  part  of  the  purchasers,  their 
heirs,  or  assigns,  that  then  and  in 
that  case  conveyances  are  to  be 
made  agreeably  to  the  terms  of  the 
said  contracts  and  the  money 
arising  therefrom  when  paid 
to  be  vested  in  Bank  Stock,  the 
dividends  whereof,  as  of  that  also  which 
is  already  vested  therein,  is  to  inure 
to  my  said  wife  during  her  life 
but  the  Stock  its'self  is  to  remain  & 


i6 

be  subject  to  the  general  distribution 
hereafter  directed. — 

ITEM — To  the  Earl  of  Buchan  I  recom- 
-mit,  "The  Box  made  of  the  Oak  that 
"sheltered  the  Great  Sir  William  Wal- 
"-lace  after  the  battle  of  Falkirk" — 
presented  to  me  by  his  Lordship  in 
terms  too  flattering  for  me  to  repeat, — 
with  a  request  "  To  pass  it,  on  the  event 
"  of  my  decease  to  the  man  in  my 
"  Country  who  should  appear  to  merit 
"  it  best,  upon  the  same  conditions 
"  that  have  induced  him  to  send  it 
"  to  me." — Whether  easy  or  not  to 
select  the  man  who  might  comport 
with  his  Lordship's  opinion  in  this 
respect,  is  not  for  me  to  say,  but  con- 
-ceiving  that  no  disposition  of  this 
valuable  curiosity,  can  be  more  eli- 
-gable  than  the  re-commitment  of  it 
to  his  own  cabinet  agreeably  to  the 
original  design  of  the  Goldsmith's — 
Company  of  Edinburgh,  who  presen- 
ted it  to  him,  and  at  his  request, 
consented  that  it  should  be  transfered  to 
me;   I  do  give  and  bequeath  the  same  to 
his  Lordship,  and  in  case  of  his  de- 
-cease,  to  his  heir  with  my  grateful 
thanks  for  the  distinguished  honor 
of  presenting  it  to  me,  and  more  es- 
pecially for  the  favorable  sentiments 


'7 

with  which  he  accompanied  it 

ITEM — To  my  brother  Charles  Washington 

I  give  and  bequeath  the  Gold-headed  cane 
left  me  by  Doct'r  Franklin  in  his  will — 

1  add  nothing  to  it  because  of  the 

ample  provision  I  have  made  for  his 

issue " To  the  acquaintances  and 

friends  of  my  juvenile  years,  Lawrence 
Washington  and  Robert  Washington20  of 
Chotanck,  I  give  my  other  two  gold-headed 
canes,  having  my  arms  engraved  on  them, 
and  to  each  (as  they  will  be  useful  where 
they  live),  I  leave  one  of  the  spy  glasses 
which  constituted  part  of  my  equipage 

during  the  late  war To  my  com- 

-patriot  in  arms  and  old  and  intimate 
friend  Doct'r  Craik,21  I  give  my  Bureau 
(or  as  the  Cabinet  makers  called  it  Tam- 
-bour  Secretary)  and  the  circular  chair, 

an  appendage  of  my  study To 

Doct'r  David  Stuart  I  give  my  large 
shaving  and  dressing  Table,  and  my  Tel- 
escope  To  the  Reverend  now 

Bryan  Lord  Fairfax23  I  give  a  Bible  in 
three  large  folio  volumes  with  notes, 
presented  to  me  by  the  Right  Reverend 
Thomas  Wilson,  Bishop  of  Sodor  &  Man 

To  General  de  la  Fayette23  I  give 

a  pair  of  finely  wrought  steel  pistols 
taken  from  the  enemy  in  the  Revolutionary 
war To  my  sisters  in  law 


i8 


Hannah  Washington,  and  Mildred  Wash- 
ington ; — To  my  friends  Eleanor  Stuart, 
Hannah  Washington  of  Fairfield  and 
Elizabeth  Washington  of  Hayfield  I 
give  each  a  mourning  Ring  of  the 

value  of  one  hundred  dollars These 

bequests  are  not  made  for  the  intrins- 
ic value  of  them,  but  as  mementos 

of  my  esteem  and  regard To  Tobias 

Lear24  I  give  the  use  of  the  farm  which 
he  now  holds  in  virtue  of  a  lease  from 
me  to  him  and  his  deceased  wife  (for 
and  during  their  natural  lives)  free 
from  Rent  during  his  life,  at  the  ex- 
piration of  which  it  is  to  be  disposed 

as  is  hereafter  directed To 

Sally  B  Haynie  (a  distant  relation 
of  mine)  I  give  and  bequeath  three 

hundred  dollars To  Sarah 

Green  daughter  of  the  deceased  Thomas 
Bishop  and  to  Ann  Walker,  daughter 
of  Jno  Alton,  also  deceased  I  give  each 
one  hundred  dollars,  in  consideration 
of  the  attachment  of  their  father 
to  me,  each  of  whom  having  lived 
nearly  forty  years  in  my  family. — 

To  each  of  my  nephews  William 

Augustine  Washington,  George 
Lewis,  George  Steptoe  Washington. — 
Bushrod  Washington,  and  Samuel 
Washington,  I  give  one  of  the  swords 
or  cutteaux  of  which  I  may  die  pos- 


-sessed,  and  they  are  to  chuse  in  the  order 

they  are  named. These  swords 

are  accompanied  with  an  injunction 
not  to  unsheath  them  for  the  pur- 
-pose  of  shedding  blood  except  it  be 
for  self  defence,  or  in  defence  of  their 
Country  and  it's  rights,  and  in  the  latter 
case  to  keep  them  unsheathed, 
and  prefer  falling  with  them  in  their 
hands  to  the  relinquishment  thereof. 

AND  NOW, 

Having  gone  through  these  specific 
devises,  with  explanations 
for  the  more  correct  understanding 
of  the  meaning  and  design  of 
them,  I  proceed  to  the  distribution 
of  the  more  important  parts  of  my 
Estate,  in  manner  following 

First — To  my  nephew  Bushrod  Washington 
and  his  heirs  (partly  in  consider- 
-ation  of  an  intimation  to  his  deceased 
father,  while  we  were  bachelors  and 
he  had  kindly  undertaken  to  super- 
-intend  my  Estate,  during  my  military 
services  in  the  former  war  between 
Great  Britian  and  France,  that  if  I 
should  fall  therein,  Mt.  Vernon 
(then  less  extensive  in  domain  than 
at  present)  should  become  his  prop- 
-erty)  I  give  and  bequeath  all  that 
part  thereof  which  is  comprehen- 


-ded  within  the  following  limits — viz: — 

Beginning  at  the  ford  of  Dogue  Run 

near  my  mill  and  extending  along  the 

road  and  bounded  thereby  as  it  now 

goes,  and  ever  has  gone  since  my 

recollection  of  it,  to  the  ford  of  little  hunting 

Creek,  at  the  gum  spring  until  it  comes 

to  a  knowl  opposite  to  an  old  road 

which  formerly  passed  through  the 

lower  field  of  Muddy-Hole  Farm; 

at  which,  on  the  north  side  of  the 

said  road  are  three  red  or  Spanish  oaks 

marked  as  a  corner,  and  a  stone  placed — 

— thence  by  a  line  of  trees  to  be  marked 

rectangular  to  the  back  line,  or 

outer  boundary  of  the  tract  between 

Thomas  Mason  and  myself, — thence 

with  that  line  easterly,  (now  double 

ditching  with  a  post  and  rail  fence 

thereon)  to  the  run  of  little  hunting 

Creek,  thence  with  that  run,  which 

is  the  boundary  of  the  lands  of 

the  late  Humphrey  Peake  and  me, 

to  the  tide  water  of  the  said  Creek 

thence  by  that  water  to  Potomac 

River,  thence  with  the  River  to  the 

mouth  of  Dogue  Creek,  and  thence 

with  the  said  Dogue  Creek  to  the 

place  of  beginning,  at  the  aforesaid  ford, 

containing  upwards  of  Four  thousand 

acres,  be  the  same  more  or  less 

together  with  the  Mansion  House, 


and  all  other  buildings  and  improvemt* 
thereon. • 

ndly — In  consideration  of  the  consanguinity 
between  them  and  my  wife,  being  as 
as  nearly  related  to  her  as  to  my  self,  as  on 
account  of  the  affection  I  had  for,  and 
the  obligation  I  was  under  to  their  father 
when  living,  who  from  his  youth  had  attached 
himself  to  my  person  and  followed  my 
fortunes  through  the  viscisitudes  of  the  late 
Revolution,  afterwards  devoting 
his  time  to  the  superintendence  of  my 
private  concerns  for  many  years  whilst 
my  public  employments  rendered  it  im- 
rpracticable  for  me  to  do  it  myself 
thereby  affording  me  essential  services,  and 
always  performing  them  in  a  manner  the 
most  filial  and  respectful ;   for 
these  reasons  I  say,  I  give  and  bequeath 
to  George  Fayette  Washington  and  Laurence 
Augustine  Washington20  &  their  heirs  my 
Estate  east  of  little  hunting  creek  lying 
on  the  River  Potomac,  including  the 
farm  of  360,  acres,  leased  to  Tobias  Lear 
as  noticed  before  and  containing  in 
the  whole,  by  deeds,  Two  thousand  & 
twenty  seven  acres  be  it  more  or  less 
which  said  Estate,  it  is  my  will  and  desire 
should  be  equitably  and  advantageously 
divided  between  them,  according  to 
quantity,  quality  &  other  circumstances  when 


22 

the  youngest  shall  have  arrived  at  the 
age  of  twenty  one  years,  by  three  judicious 
and  disinterested  men,  one  to  be 
chosen  by  each  of  the  brothers  and  the 
third  by  these  two, — In  the  mean  time 
if  the  termination  of  my  wifes  interest 
therein  should  have  ceased  the  profits, 
arising  therefrom  are  to  be  applied 
for  their  joint  uses  and  benefit 

Third — And  whereas  it  has  always  been 
my  intention,  since  my  expectation  of 
having  issue  has  ceased,*  to  consider 
the  grand  children  of  my  wife  in  the 
same  light  as  I  do  my  own  relations 
and  to  act  a  friendly  part  by  them, 
more  especially  by  the  two  whom  we  have 
reared  from  their  earliest  infancy, 
namely,  Eleanor  Parke  Custis 
and  George  Washington  Parke  Custis  j26 
and  whereas  the  former  of  these 
hath  lately  intermarried  with  Lawrence 
Lewis,  a  son  of  my  deceased  sister 
Betty  Lewis,  by  which  union  the 
inducement  to  provide  for  them  both 
has  been  increased. — Wherefore 
I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  said  Lawrence 
Lewis  and  Eleanor  Parke  Lewis,  his  wife, 
and  their  heirs,  the  residue  of  my 
Mount  Vernon  Estate,  not  already 
devised  to  my  nephew  Bushrod  Washing- 
-ton  comprehended  within  the  fol- 


-lowing  description. — viz — all  the  land 
north  of  the  Road  leading  from  the  ford 
of  Dogue  Run  to  the  Gum  Spring  as  de- 
-scribed  in  the  devise  of  the  other  part  of  the 
tract  to  Bushrod  Washington  until 
it  comes  to  the  stone  and  three  red  or 
Spanish  oaks  on  the  knowl. — thence 
with  the  rectangular  line  to  the  back 
line  (between  Mr  Mason  and  me) — thence 
with  that  line  westerly,  along  the  new 
double  ditch  to  Dogue  Run,  by  the  tumbling 

dam  of  my  mill, thence  with  the 

said  Run  to  the  ford  aforementioned ; 
— to  which  I  add  all  the  land  I  possess 
west  of  the  said  Dogue  Run  &  Dogue  Crk 
bounded,  Easterly  &  Southerly  thereby — together 
with  the  Mill,  Distillery  and  all 
other  houses  and  improvements  on  the 
premises  making  together  about  .  .' 

two  thousand  acres  be  it  more  or  less 

Fourth — Actuated  by  the  principle  already 
mentioned,  I  give  and  bequeath 
to  George  Washington  Parke  Custis  the 

• 

Grand  son  of  my  wife  and  my  ward 
and  to  his  heirs,  the  tract  I  hold  on 
four  mile  Run  in  the  vicinity  of 
Alexandria  containing  one  thousd 
two  hundred  acres  more  or  less  j37 — &: 
my  entire  Square,  number  twenty 
one,  in  the  City  of  Washington.— 


24 

Fifth All  the  rest  and  residue  of  my 

Estate,  real  and  personal,  not  disposed 
of  in  manner  aforesaid — In  whatso- 
ever consisting — wheresoever  lying,  and 
whensoever  found — a  Schedule  of  which 
as  far  as  is  recollected,  with  a  reason- 
-able  estimate  of  its  value  is  hereunto 
annexed — I  desire  may  be  sold  by  my 
Executors  at  such  times — in  such  man- 
-ner,  and  on  such  credits  (if  an  equal 
valid  and  satisfactory  distribution  of  the 
specific  property  cannot  be  made 
without)  as,  in  their  judgment 
shall  be  most  conducive  to  the  inter- 
est of  the  parties  concerned,  and  the 
monies  arising  therefrom  to  be  divided 
into  twenty  three  equal  parts 
and  applied  as  follows — viz  : — 

To  William  Augustine  Washingtoi 
Elizabeth  Spotswood,  Jane  Thornton, 
and  the  heirs  of  Ann  Ashton ;   son  and 
daughters  of  my  deceased  brother 
Augustine  Washington,  I  give  and 
bequeath  four  parts — that  is — one  part 
to  each  of  them. " " " 

To  Fielding  Lewis,  George  Lewis 
Robert  Lewis,  Howell  Lewis  &  Betty 
Carter,  sons  and  daughter  of  my  de- 
-ceased  sister  Betty  Lewis  I  give  &  be- 
queath five  other  parts — one  to  each  of  them 

To  George  Steptoe  Washington 
Laurence  Augustine  Washington,  Harriot 


25 

Parks,  and  the  heirs  of  Thornton  Wash- 
ington, sons  and  daughter  of  my  deceased 
brother  Samuel  Washington,  I  give 
and  bequeath  other  four  parts,  one 

part  to  each  of  them. 

To  Corbin  Washington,  and  the 
heirs  of  Jane  Washington,  son  &  daugh- 
ter of  my  deceased  brother  John  Augus- 
-tine  Washington,  I  give  and  bequeath  two 
parts  ; — one  part  to  each  of  them; 

To  Samuel  Washington,  Francis 
Ball  &  Mildred  Hammond,  son  and  daugh- 
ters of  my  brother  Charles  Washington 
I  give  and  bequeath  three  parts — one  part 

to  each  of  them. And  to  George  Fayette 

Washington,  Charles  Augustine  Washington 
and  Maria  Washington,  sons  and 
daughter  of  my  deceased  nephew,  Geo : 
Augustine  Washington,  I  give  one  other 
part — that  is — to  each  a  third  of  that  part 

To  Elizabeth  Parke  Law,  Martha 
Parke  Peter,  and  Eleanor  Parke  Lewis 
I  give  and  bequeath  three  other  parts — 

that  is,  a  part  to  each  of  them. 

And  to  my  nephews  Bushrod 
Washington  &  Lawrence  Lewis, — and  to 
my  ward,  the  grand  son  of  my  wife, 
I  give  and  bequeath  one  other  part ; — that 
is  a  third  thereof  to  each  of  them — And 
if  it  should  so  happen,  that  any  of  the 
persons  whose  names  are  here  ennu- 
-merated  (unknown  to  me)  should  now 


be  deceased,  or  should  die  before  me, 
that  in  either  of  these  cases,  the  heirs 
of  such  deceased,  person  shall,  not- 
-withstanding  derive  all  the  benefit  of 
the  bequest,  in  the  same  manner  as  if 
he,  or  she,  was  actually  living  at  the  time 
And  by  way  of  advice,  I  recom- 
-mend  it  to  my  Executors  not  to  be  pre- 
cipitate in  disposing  of  the  landed 
property  (herein  directed  to  be  sold) 
if  from  temporary  causes  the  sale 
thereof  should  be  dull,  experience 
having  fully  evinced,  that  the  price  of 
land  (especially  above  the  Falls  of  the 
Rivers  &  on  the  Western  Waters)  have 
been  progressively  rising,  and  cannot 
be  long  checked  in  it's  increasing 

value. and  I  particularly  rec- 

-commend  it  to  such  of  the  Legatees  (under 

this  clause  of  my  will)  as  can  make 

it  convenient,  to  take  each  a  share  of  my 

stock  in  the  Potomac  Company  in 

preference  to  the  amount  of  what 

it  might  sell  for ;   being  thoroughly 

convinced  myself,  that  no  uses  to  which 

the  money  can  be  applied  will 

be  so  productive  as  the  Tolls  arising 

from  this  navigation  when  in  full 

operation  (and  this  from  the  nature 

of  things  it  must  be  'ere  long)  and 

more  especially  if  that  of  the  Shanan- 

-doah  is  added  thereto. — 


The  family  Vault  at  Mount  Ver- 
-non  requiring  repairs,  and  being 
improperly  situated  besides,  I  desire 
that  a  new  one  of  Brick,  and  upon 
a  larger  scale,  may  be  built  at  the 
foot  of  what  is  commonly  called  the 
Vineyard  Inclosure, — on  the  ground 
which  is  marked  out.28 — In  which  my 
remains,  with  those  of  my  deceased 
relatives  (now  in  the  Old  Vault)  and 
such  others  of  my  family  as  may 
chuse  to  be  entombed  there,  may  be 
deposited. — And  it  is  my  express 
desire  that  my  Corpse  may  be  inter- 
-red  in  a  private  manner,  without 
parade  or  funeral  oration. 

Lastly — I  constitute  and  appoint  my 
dearly  beloved  wife  Martha  Wash- 
ington, my  nephews  William  Augus- 
-tine  Washington,  Bushrod  Washington 
George  Steptoe  Washington,  Samuel 
Washington  &  Lawrence  Lewis,  & 
my  ward,  George  Washington  Parke 
Custis  (when  he  shall  have  arrived 
at  the  age  of  twenty  years)  Executrix  & 
Executors  of  this  Will  &  Testament, — 
— In  the  construction  of  which  it  will 
readily  be  perceived  that  no  professional 
character  has  been  consulted 
or  has  had  any  agency  in  the  draught 
— and  that,  although  it  has  occupied 


28 

many  of  my  leisure  hours  to  digest 
&  to  through  it  into  its  present  form,  it 
may  notwithstanding,  appear  crude 
and  incorrect — But  having  endeavored 
to  be  plain  and  explicit  in 
all  the  Devises — even  at  the  expense 
of  prolixity,  perhaps  of  tautology, 
I  hope,  and  trust,  that  no  disputes 
will  arise  concerning  them  ;   but 
if  contrary  to  expectation  the  case  should 
be  otherwise  from*  the  want  of  legal  ex- 
pression, or  the  usual  technical  terms 
or  because  too  much  or  too  little ;   has  been 
said  on  any  of  the  devises 
to  be  consonant  with  law,  my  will 
and  direction  expressly  is,  that  all 
disputes  (if  unhappily  any  should 
arise)  shall  be  decided  by  three 
impartial  and  intelligent  men,  known 
for  their  probity  and  good  understand- 
•ing;   two  to  be  chosen  by  the 
disputants,  each  having  the  choice 
of  one,  and  the  third  by  those  two. — 
which  three  men  thus  chosen,  shall 
unfettered  by  Law,  or  legal  construc- 
-tions,  declare  their  sense  of  the 
Testator's  intention  ;   and  such 
decsion  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
to  be  as  binding  on  the  Parties 
as  if  it  had  been  given  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.29— 


In  witness  of  all  and  of 

each  of  the  things  herein  contained 

I  have  set  my  hand 

and  seal  this  ninth 

day  of  July,  in  the  year 

one  thousand  seven  hun- 

-dred  and  ninety*  and  of  the 

Independence  of  the 

United  States,  the  Twenty 

fourth. 


*  It  appears  the  Testator  omitted  the  word  "nine." 


279577 


SCHEDULE  OF  PROPERTY  comprehended  in 
the  foregoing  Will,  which  is  directed  to 
be  sold,  and  some  of  it,  conditionally  is 
sold;  with  descriptive  and  explanitory 
notes  relative  thereto. 

IN  VIRGINIA. 

ACRES,  PRICE.  DOLLARS. 

LOUDOUN  COUNTY — 

Difficult  Run 300  6.666     (a) 

LOUDOUN  &  FAUQUIER — 

Ashby'sBent 2,481  $10          24.810}  /,. 

Chattin's  Run 885  8  7.080)'' 

BERKLEY — 

So.  Fork  of  Bullskin 1,600") 

Head  of  Evan's  M 453  > 

In  Wormley's  Line 183) 

2,236  20          44.720     (<:) 

FREDERICK— 

Bought  from  Mercer 571  20          11.420  (d) 

HAMPSHIRE — 

On  Potk.  River  above  B 240  15  3.600  (e) 

GLOUCESTER — 

On  North  River 400  abt  3.600  (/) 

NANSEMOND — 

Near  Suffolk  \  of) 

1119  Acres \  373  8  2.984  fc) 

GREAT  DISMAL  SWAMP— 

My  dividend  thereof  abt  20.000   (h) 

OHIO  RIVER — 

Round  Bottom... , 587  i 

Little  Kanhawa 2,314 

2,901  $124.880 


SCHEDULE — Continued. 

&      ''•     ACRES.  PRICE.  DOLLARS. 

Amount  brought  over ,  2,901  124.880 

16  miles  lower  down 2,448 

Opposite  Big  Bent 4,395 

9,744  10          97>44o     (/) 

GREAT  Kanhawa — 

Near  the  mouth  west ,10,990 

East  Side  above 7,276 

Mouth  of  Cole  River 2,000 

Opposite  thereto 2,950 

Burning  Spring 125 

23,341  200.000    (k) 

MARYLAND — 

Charles  County 600  6  3,600     (/) 

Montgomery  County 519  12  6.228  (m) 

PENNSYLVANIA — 

Great  Meadows 234  6  1.404   («) 

NEW  YORK — 

Mohawk  River  abt 1,000  6  6.000    (o) 

NORTH  WEST  TERRITORY — 

On  little  Miami 839 

Ditto         977 

Ditto    „   1,235 

3,°5i  5          15-251  (/) 

KENTUCKY — 

Rough  Creek 3,ooo 

Ditto    adjoin'g 2,000 

5,000  2          10.000    (g) 

Lots — -viz : — 

CITY  OF  WASHINGTON — 

Two  near  the  Capital  Sqr. 634") 

Cost  $963,  and  with  Buildgs 15.000    (r) 

Carried  over 479-8°3 


SCHEDULE  OF  PROPERTY  comprehended  in 
the  foregoing  Will,  which  is  directed  to 
be  sold,  and  some  of  it,  conditionally  is 
sold;  with  descriptive  and  explanitory 
notes  relative  tJiereto. 

IN  VIRGINIA. 

ACRES.  PRICE.  DOLLARS. 

LOUDOUN  COUNTY — 

Difficult  Run 300  6.666     (a) 

LOUDOUN  &  FAUQUIER — 

Ashby'sBent 2,481  $10          24.810},,. 

Chattin's  Run 885  8  7.080)'' 

BERKLEY — 

So.  Fork  of  Bullskin 1,600} 

Head  of  Evan's  M 453  >- 

In  Wormley's  Line 183  ) 

2,236  20          44.720     (c) 

FREDERICK — 

Bought  from  Mercer. 571  20          11.420  (d) 

HAMPSHIRE — 

On  Potk.  River  above  B 240  15  3.600  (e) 

GLOUCESTER — 

On  North  River 400  alt  3.600  (/) 

NANSEMOND — 

Near  Suffolk  J  of ) 

1119  Acres j  373  8  2.984  te) 

GREAT  DISMAL  SWAMP— 

My  dividend  thereof  abt  20.000   (//) 

OHIO  RIVER — 

Round  Bottom.... , 587 

Little  Kanhawa 2,314 


2,901 


$124.880 


SCHEDULE — Continued. 

A''      ''•     ACRES.  PRICE.  DOLLARS. 

Amount  brought  over ,  2,901  124.880 

16  miles  lower  down 2,448 

Opposite  Big  Bent 4?395 

9,744  10          97)440     (/) 

GREAT  Kanhawa — 

Near  the  mouth  west..., 10,990 

East  Side  above 7,276 

Mouth  of  Cole  River 2,000 

Opposite  thereto 2,950 

Burning  Spring 125 

23,341  200.000    (k) 

MARYLAND — 

Charles  County 600  6  3>6oo     (/) 

Montgomery  County 519  12  6.228  (HI) 

PENNSYLVANIA — 

Great  Meadows 234  6  1.404   («) 

NEW  YORK — 

Mohawk  River  abt 1,000  6  6.000    (o) 

NORTH  WEST  TERRITORY — 

On  little  Miami 839 

Ditto         977 

Ditto    ...   V35 

3,o5i  5          15-251  (/) 

KENTUCKY — 

Rough  Creek 3,ooo 

Ditto   adjoin'g 2,000 

5,000  2          10.000   (q) 

Lots — viz : — 

CITY  OF  WASHINGTON- 
TWO  near  the  Capital  Sqr 634) 

Cost  $963,  and  with  Buildgs 15.000    (r) 

Carried  over. ,.  479.803 


SCHEDULE — Continued. 


Amt.  brought  over. 


LOTS — CITY  OF  WASHINGTON — 

No.  5,  12,  13  &  14,  the  3  last  water 
lots  on  the  Eastern  Branch 
in  Sqr  667,  containing  together 
34,438  Sqr  feet  at  12  cts 


ALEXANDRIA — 


Corner  of  Pitt  and  Prince  Strts 
half  an  acre — laid  out  into 
buildgs  3  or  4  of  wch  are  let 
on  grd  Rent  at  $3  pr  foot 

WINCHESTER — 

A  lot  in  the  Town,  of  half  an 
acre  &  another  on  the  Commons  of 
about  6  acres — supposed 

BATH— OR  WARM  SPRINGS — 

Two  well  situated  &  had  buil- 
-dings  to  the  amount  of  ^£150. 

STOCK. 

UNITED  STATES  6  PR  CTS 3,746 

Do          defered  1,873  \ 

3  prcts  2,946  >  2'5°° 

POTOMAC  COMPANY — 

24  Shares  cost  ea  £100  Sterfg 

JAMES  RIVER  COMPANY — 

5  Shares  each  cost  $100 


BANK  OF  COLUMBIA — 

170  Shares — $40  each 

BANK  OF  ALEXANDRIA — besides  ) 
20  to  the  Free.  School  5       | 

'*        '      »     •        •-•ISUBM.O.. 


DOLLARS. 
479.803 


4.132     (s) 


4-OOO 


400     (u) 


800    (u) 


6.246     (x) 
10.666     0') 

500     (z) 


SCHEDULE — Continued. 


Amt.  brought  over. 


DOLI,AR3. 

5*4-347 


STOCK— living — viz.- 


i  Covering  horse,  5  Coh 
horses — 4  Riding  clo — six 
brood  mares — 20  work- 
ing horses  &  mares, — 2 
Covering  Jacks  &  3  young  ones 
10  she  asses — 42  working 
mules — 15  younger  ones 
329  head  of  horned  cattle 
640  head  of  Sheep,  and 
a  large  stock  of  hogs,  the 
precise  number  unknown — 
My  manager  has  estima- 
ted this  live  stock  at  ,£7,000 
but  I  shall  set  it  down  in 
order  to  make  sd  sum  at — 

Aggregate  amt : 


15,653 


$530.000 


I 
NOTES. 

(a)  *This  tract  for  ihe  size  of  it  is  valu- 
-able ;  more  for  it's  situation  than  the  qual- 
ity of  it's  soil,  though  that  is  good  for  Farm- 
-ing,  with  a  considerable  portion  of  gr'd 
that  might,  very  easily,  be  improved  into 
meadow. — It  lyes  on  the  great  Road  from 
the  City  of  Washington,  Alexandria  and 
George  Town  to  Leesburgh  &  Winchester, 

at  Difficult  bridge — nineteen  miles  from 
Alexandria — less  from  the  City  &  George- 
Town,  and  not  more  than  three  from  Ma- 
-tildaville  at  the  Great  Falls  of  Potomac — 

There  is  a  valuable  seat  on  the  Prem- 
-ises — and  the  whole  is  conditionally — 
sold  for  the  sum  annexed  in  the  Schedule 

(b)  What  the  selling  prices  of  lands  in 
the  vicinity  of  these  two  tracts  are  I 
know  not ;  but  compared  with  those 
above  the  ridge,  and  others  below  them 
the  value  annexed  will  appear  mode- 
rate  a  less  one  would  not  obtain  them 

from  me. 

(c)  The  surrounding  land,  not  supe- 
rior in  soil,  situation  or  properties  of 
any  sort,  sell  currently  at  from  twenty  t* 

thirty  dollars  an  acre. The  lowest — 

price  is  affixed  to  these 

(d)  The  observations  made  in  the  last 
note  applies  equally  to  this  tract  tract 


2 

NOTES. 

being  in  the  vicinity  of  them,  and  of  sim- 
ilar quality,  altho  it  lye's  in  another  County 

(e)  This  tract  though  small,  is  extremely 

valuable it  lyes  on  the  Potomac  River, 

about  twelve  miles  above  the  Town  of  Bath  (or 
Warm  Springs)  and  is  in  the  shape  of  a 
horse-shoe,  the  River  running  almost 
around  it. — Two  hundred  acres  of  it  is 

'  '     rich  low  grounds ;  with  a  great  abun- 
dance of  the  largest  and  finest  Walnut 
Trees,  which  with  the  produce  of  the  soil 
might  (by  means  of  the  improved  navi- 
.    -gation  of  the  Potomac)  be  brought  to  a 
shipping  port  with  more  ease  and  at  a 
smaller  expense  than  that  which  is 
transported  30  miles,  only  by  land 

(/)   This  tract  is  of  second  rate 

Gloucester  low  ground — it  has  no 
improvement  thereon,  but  lyes  on  navigable 
water  abounding  in  fish  and  oysters : 
it  was  received  in  payment  of  a  debt 
(carrying  interest)  and  valued  in  the 
year  1789,  by  an  impartial  gentleman 
to  £800. — N.  B.     It  has  lettely  been  sold 
and  there  is  due  thereon,  a  balance 
equal  to  what  is  annexed — the  Schedule 

(g)  These  373  acres  are  the  third  part 

of  undivided  purchases  made  by  the 
deceased  Fielding  Lewis,  Thomas  Walker 
and  myself,  on  full  conviction  that 


3 
NOTES. 

they  would  become  valuable. the  land 

lye's  on  the  road  from  Suffolk  to  Norfolk 
touches  (if  I  am  not  mistaken)  some  part 
of  the  navigable  water  of  Nansemond  River- 
borders  on — and  comprehends  part  of 
the  rich  Dismal  Swamp ;  is  capable  of 

great  improvement ; and  from  it's  situ- 

-ation  must  become  extremely  valuable. 

(/*)  This  is  an  undivided  interest  wch 

I  held  in  the  Great  Dismal  Swamp  Company, 
containing  about  400  acres,  with  my 
part  of  the  Plantation  and  Stock  thereon 
belonging  to  the  Company  in  the  s'd  Swamp 

(i)  These  several  Tracts  of  land  are 

of  the  first  quality  on  the  Ohio  River  in 
the  parts  where  they  are  situated ; — being 
almost,  if  not  altogether,  River  bottoms. — 

— The  smallest  of  these  Tracts  is  ac- 
tually sold  at  ten  dollars  an  acre,  but  the 
consideration  therefor,  not  received, 
the  rest  are  equally  valuable,  and  will 
sell  as  high,  especially  that  which  lye's  just 
below  the  little  Kanhawa,  and  is  oppo- 
r        -site  to  a  thick  settlement  on  the  west  side  the  River 

i 

— The  four  tracts  have  an  aggregate 

breadth  upon  the  River  of  Sixteen  miles 
and  is  bounded  thereby  that  distance 

(k)  These  tracts  are  situated  on  the 

Great  Kanhawa  River,  and  the  first 


NOTES. 

four  are  bounded  thereby  for  more 
than  forty  miles. — It  is  acknowledged 
by  all  who  have  seen  them  (and  of  the 
tract  containing  10,990  acres  which  I 
have  been  on  myself,  I  can  assert)  that 
there  is  no  richer,  or  more  valuable 
land  in  all  that  Region  ; — They  are 
conditionally  sold  for  the  sum  mentioned 
in  the  schedule — that  is  $200.000 
and  if  the  terms  of  that  sale  are  not 
complied  with,  they  will  command  con- 

-siderably  more. The  tract  of  which 

.  the  125  acres  is  a  moiety,  was  taken 
up  by  General  Andrew  Lewis  and  myself 
for  and  on  account  of  a  bituminous  Spring 
which  it  contains,  of  so  inflamable  a  na- 
ture as  to  burn  as  freely  as  spirits,  and 
is  as  nearly  difficult  to  extinguish. 

(/)  I  am  but  little  acquainted  with 

this  land,  although  I  have  once  been  on 
it. — It  was  received  (many  years  since) 
in  discharge  of  a  debt  due  to  me  from 
Daniel  Janifer  Adams,  at  the  value  . 
annexed  thereto,  and  must  be  worth 

more. It  is  very  level,  lyes  near 

the  River  Potomac  "   . 

(m)  This  tract  lyes  about  30  miles 

above  the  City  of  Washington  not  far 
from  Kittoctan. — It  is  good  farming 
land,  and  by  those  who  are  well  ac- 


5 

-quainted  with  it,  I -am  informed  that  it 
would  sell  at  twelve  or  $15.  pr  acre 
(«)  This  land  is  valuable  on  account 

of  it's  local  situation  and  other  properties. — 
— It  affords  an  exceeding  good  stand 
on  Braddock's  Road  from  Fort  Cumberland 
to  Pittsburgh  and  besides  a  fertile  soil 
possesses  a  large  quantity  of  natural 
meadow  fit  for  the  scythe. — It  is  distin- 
-guished  by  the  appellation  of  the  Great  Mea- 
-dows,  where  the  first  action  with  the  French 
in  the  year  1754  was  fought 

(o)  This  is  the  moiety  of  about  2000  curs 

which  remains  unsold  of  607 1  acres 
on  the  Mohawk  River,  (Montgomery  Ct'y) 
in  a  Patent  granted  to  Daniel  Coxe  in 
the  Township  of  Coxebourgh  6*  Carolaca 
as  will  appear  by  deed  from  Marinus 
Willet  &  wife  to  George  Clinton  (late 
Governor  of  New  York)  and  myself;  The  lat- 
-ter  sales  have  been  at  six  dollars  an  acre 
and  what  remains  unsold  \i\\\fetch  that, 
or  more 

(p)  The  quality  of  these  lands  &  their 

situation  may  be  known  by  the  surveyor's 
certificates,  which  are  filed  along  with 
the  patents — They  lye  in  the  vicinity  of 
Cincinnati,  one  tract  near  the  mouth  of 
the  little  Miami,  another  seven,  &  the  third 


6 

NOTES. 

ten  miles  up  the  same — I  have  been 
informed  that  they  will  readily  command 
more  than  they  are  estimated  at. 

(q )  For  the  description  of  these  tracts 

in  detail,  see  General  Spottswood's  letters 

filed  with  the  other  papers  relating  to  them 

Besides  the  general  good  qual- 

-ity  of  the  land,  there  is  a  valuable 
bank  of  Iron  Ore  theron  ; — which  when 
the  settlement  becomes  more  populous 
(and  settlers  are  moving  that  way 
very  fast)  will  be  found  very  valuable, 
.    as  the  rough  creek,  a  branch  of 
Green  River  affords  ample  water  for 
furnaces  and  forges. 

LOTS  — Viz: 
CITY  OF  WASHINGTON— 

(r)  The  two  lots  near  the  Capital  in 

Square  634,  cost  me  $963  only,  but  in 
this  price  I  was  favoured  on  condition 
that  I  should  build  two  brick  houses, 
three  storys  high  each ; — without 
this  reduction,  the  selling  price  of  those 
lots  would  have  cost  me  about  $1350. 

These  lots  with  the  buildings 

thereon  when  completed  will  stand  me  in 
$15.000  at  least 

(s)  Lots  No.  5,  12,  13  &  14  on  the  Eastern 

Branch  are  advantageously  situated 
on  the  water,  and  although  many  lots 


7 

much  less  convenient,  have  sold  a  great 
deal  higher,  I  will  rate  these  at  12  cts 
the  Square  foot  only. 

ALEXANDRIA. 

(t)                 For  this  lot,  though  unimproved 
I  have  refused  $3500.  it  has  since  been 
laid  off  into  proper  sized  lots  for  building 
on,  three  or  four  of  which  are  let  on 
ground  Rent  forever  at  three  dollars 
a  foot  on  the  street,  and  this  price 
is  asked  for  both  fronts  on  Pitt  &  Prin- 
cess streets. 

WINCHESTER. 

(u)  As  neither  the  lot  in  the  Town 

or  common  have  any  improvements 
on  them  it  is  not  easy  to  fix  a  price, 
but  as  both  are  well  situated  it  is 
presumed  the  price  annexed  to  them 
in  the  Schedule  is  a  reasonable  valun 

BATH. 

(v)  The  lots  in  Bath  (two  adjoining)  cost 

me  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  between 
fifty  and  sixty  pounds,  20  years  ago  &  the 
buildings  thereon,  £150  more. — whether 
property  there  has  increased  or  decreased 
in  it's  value,  and  in  what  condition 
the  houses  are,  I  am  ignorant, 
but  suppose  they  are  not  valued  too  high 


8 

STOCKS. 

(x)  These  are  the  sums  which  are 

actually  funded,  and  though  no  more 
in  the  aggregate  than  $7566.  stand  me 
in  at  least  Ten  thousand  pounds  in  Vir- 
ginia money,  being  the  amount  of 
bonded  and  other  debts  due  to  me,  and 
discharged  during  the  war,  when 
money  had  depreciated  in  that  ratio 
and  was  so  settled  by  public  authority. 

(y)                The  value  annexed  to  these  shares 
is  what  they  have  actually  cost  me, 
and  is  the  price  affixed  by  law : — and 
although  the  present  selling  price  is 
under  par,  my  advice  to  the  Legatees 
(for  whose  benefit  they  are  intended, 
especially  those  who  can  afford  to  lye 
out  of  the  money)  is  that  each  should 
take  and  hold  one ;  there  being  a 
moral  certainty  of  a  great  and  in- 
-creasing  profit  arising  from  them 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years 

\z)  It  is  supposed  that  the  shares 

in  the  James  River  Company  must  also 
be  productive — But  of  this  I 
can  give  no  decided  opinion 
for  want  of  more  accurate  information. 

These  are  nominal  prices 
of  the  Shares  of  the  Banks  of  Alex- 


9 

•andria  &  Columbia,  the  selling  prices 
vary  according  to  circumstances 
but  as  the  stock  usually  divided  from 
eight  to  ten  per  cent  per  annum,  they 
must  be  worth  the  former,  at  least, 
so  long  as  the  Banks  are  conceived 
to  be  secure,  although  circumstan- 
-ces  may  sometimes  below  it 

The  value  of  the  live  stock 
depends  more  upon  the  quality  than 
quantity  of  the  different  species  of  it 
and  this  again  upon  the  demand, 
and  judgment  or  fancy  of  purchasers. 
Mount  Vernon, 

9  7"iy,  1799- 


10 

At  a  Court  held  for  the  County  of  Fairfax 
the  2oth  day  of  January  1800,  this  last  Will  and 
Testament  of  George  Washington,  deceased,  late 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  was  pre- 
-sented  in  Court  by  George  Steptoe  Washington,  Samuel 
Washington,  &  Lawrence  Lewis,  three  of  the 
Executors  therein  named,  who  made  oath  thereto, 
and  the  same  being  proved  by  the  oaths  of  Charles 
Little,  Charles  Simms  and  Ludwell  Lee,  to  be  in 
the  true  hand  writing  of  the  said  Testator,  as  also 
the  Sceduk  thereto  annexed,  and  the  said  Will, 
being  sealed  and  signed  by  him  is  on  motion,  Ordered 

j^ 

to  be  Recorded  -  And  the  said  Executors 
having  given  Security  and  performed  what  the  Laws 
require,  a  Certificate  is  granted  them  for  obtaining 

a  probate  thereof  in  due  form. 

™    .<-• 

TESTE: 

G.  DENE  ALE,  a.-  Fx: 


R.  L.  TZ.Jb:  i  ^ 

Ex4*  by 

G.  DENEALE,  CV;  fist 


•       This  endorsement  6f  the  cleric  !s  Intended  to 
represent  that  the  will  &c  is  "  Recorded  Lib«r 
H.  folio  i  and  Examined,1' 


NOTES  OF  THE  PUBLISHER. 


Note  I,  Page  I. — GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  The  progenitor  of  the  Washington*, 
of  whom  this  Testator  was  one,  seems  to  have  been  William  De  Hertbern,  of 
Norman  origin,  whom  we  find  in  the  century  succeeding  the  conquest  of  Wil- 
liam, in  possession  of  certain  estates  held  of  the  Bishop  de  Pusaz  in  knight's 
fee,  situated  in  Durham,  England.  The  surname  De  Hertbern  was  taken  from 
a  village  on  the  Palatinate  which  he  held  of  the  bishop,  supposed  to  be  the 
saute  now  called  Hartburn  on  the  banks  of  the  Tees.  The  first  actual  mention 
we  find  of  the  family  is  in  the  Bolden  Book.*  In  this  it  is  stated  that  William 
de  Hertbern  had  exchanged  his  village  of  Hertburn  for  the  manor  and  village 
of  Wessyngton  in  the  same  diocese,  paying  the  bishop  certain  quit-rents,  &c. — 
This  occurred  in  1183,  the  earliest  data  to  which  we  can  trace,  and  it  seems  that 
from  this  period  forward  the  family  assumed  the  name  of  De  Wessyngton.t 
About  the  time  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  the  de  or  </'  was  generally  dropped 
from  surnames,  and  the  title  of  armiger,  esquire,  amongst  the  heads  of  families, 
and  generosus,  or  gentleman,  among  younger  sons  substituted ;  and  we  find  the 
family  name  of  the  Testator  to  vary  from  Wassyngton  to  Wassington,  Wassh- 
ington,  and  finally  to  Washington.  The  branch  of  the  family  to  which  our 
Washington  immediately  belongs  sprang  from  Lawrence  Washington,  Esq.,  of 
Gray's  Inn,  son  of  John  Washington,  of  Warton  in  Lancashire.  This  Lau- 
rence Washington  received  from  Henry  VIII.,  in  1538,  the  grant  of  the  manor 
of  Sulgrave,  in  Northamptonshire,  and  was  known  in  1620  as  "  Washington's 
Manor."  We  have  little  note  of  the  Sulgrave  branch  of  the  family  after  the 
death  of  Charles  I.  and  the  exile  of  his  successor.  In  1655  the  persecutions  of 
Cromwell  drove  many  of  the  adherents  of  the  house  of  Stuart  from  England, 
and  many  of  their  party  who  had  no  share  in  the  conspiracy,  sought  refuge  in 
other  lands.  This  may  have  been  the  case  with  two  brothers,  John  and  An- 
drew Washington,  great  grandsons  of  the  grantee  of  Sulgrave.  These  brothers 
arrived  in  Virginia  in  1657,  and  purchased  lands  in  Westmoreland  county,  on 
the  northern  neck,  between  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock  rivers.  John 
married  a  Miss  Anne  Pope,  of  the  same  county,  and  resided  at  Bridges  Creek,| 
near  where  it  falls  into  the  Potomac.  We  afterwards  find  him  as  Colonel  of 
Virginia  forces,  co-operating  with  those  of  Maryland  against  a  band  of  Seneca 
Indians.  His  grandson,  Augustine  Washington,  the  father  of  our  Washington, 
was  born  at  Bridge's  Creek  in  1694.  He  was  twice  married  :  first  (April  20, 
1715,)  to  Jane,  daughter  of  Caleb  Butler,  Esq.,  of  Westmoreland  county,  by 
whom  he  had  four  children,  of  whom  only  two,  Laurence  and  Augustine,  sur- 
vived the  years  of  childhood ;  their  mother  died  November  24,  1728,  and  was 
interred  near  the  remains  of  Col.  Washington,  at  Bridge's  Creek.  On  the  6th 
of  March,  1730,  he  married  in  second  nuptials  Mary,  daughter  of  Colonel  Ball, 
the  belle  of  the  Northern  Neck.  By  her  he  had  four  sons,  George,  Samuel, 
John  Augustine,  and  Charles  ;  and  two  daughters,  Elizabeth,  or  Betty  as  she 
was  commonly  called,  and  Mildred,  who  died  in  infancy. 

George,  the  eldest,  the  American  'soldier,  statesman  and  patriot,  was  born 
22d  February,  (nth,  O.  S.,}  in  the  old  Washington  homestead  on  Bridge's 
Creek. 


•  Irving'*  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  I,  folio  4. 

t  Probablv  of  Saxon  origin     We  find  th«  viJla^e  of  Wassengtone  ment:oned  in  a  Saxon  char- 
ter gramed  by  tcljar,  973,  to  Thorney  Abbey,  prior  to  the  conquest.—  Irvine,  I.  5- 
\  Bridges  Creek,  for  generations,  wa»  the  family  puce  of  lepulture. 


This  house  commanded  a  beautiful  view  over  many  miles  of  the  Potomac, 
and  opposite  shore  of  Maryland ;  it  contained  four  rooms  on  the  ground  floor, 
and  others  in  the  attic.  Such  was  the  birth  place  of  our  great  and  loved 
Washington.  Not  a  vestige  now  remains  of  it ;  only  a  stone  *  marks  the  site 
of  the  "old  low-pitched  farm  house,"  and  an  inscription  denotes  its  being  the 
birth  place  of  Washington. 

In  giving  the  genealogy  of  the  Washington  family,  we  have  been  as  brief  as 
possible  ;  though  embracing  a  period  of  six  generations  and  upwards,  we  deem 
it  needless  to  claim  the  attention  of  the  reader  further,  as  we  could  only  borrow 
from  the  volumes  already  written  by  such  authors  as  Spark,  Marshall,  and 
Irving. 

Note  2,  Page  i. — "  Mr.  VERNON."  Familiar  as  this  American  Mecca  is  to 
all,  it  is  useless  to  add  either  engraving  or  description  here.  It  is  sufficient  to 
say  that  this  spot,  the  chosen  home  of  Washington,  and  the  place  of  his  death 
and  burial,  is  in  the  county  of  Fairfax,  Virginia,  lying  on  the  Potomac  river,  8 
miles  below  Alexandria,  and  sixteen  from  Washington  City.  It  was  inherited 
by  Laurence  Washington  from  Augustine  Washington,  his  father  and  the  father 
of  George  Washington,  in  April,  1743,  and  was  named  by  him,  Mount  Vernon, 
in  honor  of  Admiral  Vernon,  of  the  English  Navy,  with  whom  he  had  been  in- 
timate in  the  campaigns  in  West  Indies  in  1741-42.  After  his  death  (26th  July, 
1752,)  Mount  Vernon  descended  to  George  Washington.  It  was  willed  by 
General  Washington  to  his  nephew,  Bushrod  Washington,  son  of  John  Augus- 
tine Washington,  after  whose  death  it  descended  to  his  son,  John  Augustine 
Washington  (who  was,  while  aid  to  General  R.  E.  Lee  with  the  rank  of  Colo- 
nel, killed  near  Cheat  Mountain,  in  September,  1861.) 

In  1855,  Mrs.  Ann  Pamelia  Cunningham  and  other  ladies  conceived  the  plan 
of  forming  an  association,  the  object  of  which  should  be  the  purchase  of  Mount 
Vernon,  or  that  portion  including  the  dwelling,  tomb,  and  present  steamboat 
landing.  In  the  Spring  of  1856  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  Legislature 
of  Virginia,  then  in  session,  and  on  the  I7th  March,  1856,  the  association  was 
incorporated  as  "  The  Mount  Vernon  Ladies'  Association  of  the  Union  "  and 
is  as  follows,  viz.: 

"CHAP.  298. — An  ACT  to  incorporate  the  Mount  Vernon  ladies  association  of 
the  Union,  and  to  authorize  the  purchase  of  a  part  of  Mount  Vernon. 

Passed  March  17, 1856. 

Whereas,  it  appears  to  the  general  assembly,  that  the  ladies  of  the  United 
States,  acting  in  the  name  and  style  of  the  Mount  Vernon  ladies  association  of 
the  Union,  have  undertaken  to  raise,  by  individual  subscription,  a  fund  to  pur- 
chase and  improve  two  hundred  acres  of  Mount  Vernon,  with  the  generous  and 
patriotic  design  that  the  estate  so  purchased  shall  include  the  late  mansion  as 
well  as  the  tomb  of  General  George  Washington,  and  shall  thereby  be  con- 
verted into  public  property,  and  forever  held  by  the  state  of  Virginia,  sacred  to 
the  memory  of  the  Father  of  his  country :  and  whereas  it  also  appears  that 
there  has  been  already  a  large  sum  subscribed  and  paid  in  by  them  for  the  pur- 
poses aforesaid,  and  that  it  is  desired  by  said  association  that  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia shall  receive  said  money,  and  hold  and  take  care  thereof  for  said  associa- 
tion until  an  amount  is  obtained  sufficient  to  accomplish  said  purchase : 

I.  Be  it  therefore  by  the  general  assembly  enacted,  that  the  treasurer  of  this 
commonwealth  shall  receive  into  the  treasury  all  the  money  or  moneys  offered 
to  him  by  the  Mount  Vernon  ladies  association  of  the  Union,  or  by  others  in 
their  behalf,  and  shall  keep  the  same  therein,  except  upon  orders  from  the  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia.  The  fund  so  raised  shall  be  styled  and  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Mount  Vernon  ladies  association  fund.  But  nothing  herein  shall  be  con- 
strued so  as  to  make  it  obligatory  on  said  association,  or  any  branch  or 
thereof,  in  any  state,  to  pay  or  deposit  their  money  in  said  treasury. 

*  Placed  there  by  George  W.  P.  Custis. 


2.  The  said  treasurer  shall  keep  separate  accounts  foV  this  fund,  and  shall 
report  its  amount  and  condition  to  the  governor  every  six  months,  and  to  the 
general  assembly  at  every  session  held  while  said  fund  is  in  his  custody.     He 
shall  also  procure,  at  the  cost  of  the  commonwealth,  two  books  of  proper  size, 
and  shall  transcribe  into  each,  in  fair  hand,  the  names  of  the  contributors  to  the 
fund,  and  the  sum  contributed  by  each,  so  far  as  those  names  and  respective 
sums  are  furnished  to  him  by  said  association.    One  of  these  books  shall  be 
kept  forever  in  the  archives  of  Virginia,  and  the  other  shall  be  deposited  in  the 
least  destructible  part  of  any  monument  or  other  improvement  which  may  be 
hereafter  erected  on  said  Mount  Vernon. 

3.  The  governor  of  this  commonwealth  is  hereby  authorized  and  required  to 
obtain,  as  soon  as  practicable,  from  John  A.  Washington,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  a 
contract,  signed  and  sealed  by  him,  and  binding  him  to  convey,  by  proper  deed 
to  the  state  of  Virginia,  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  out  of  said  Mount  Vernon, 
at  any  time  within  five  years  from  the  passage  of  this  act,  that  the  said  governor 
pays  to  him  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

4.  The  said  deed  of  conveyance  shall  be  in  fee  simple,  reserving  to  the  sstd 
grantor  to  inter,  in  or  around  the  family  vault,  any  and  all  members  of  the 
Washington  family,  legally  descended  from  the  said  John  A.  Washington  ;  and 
the  further  right  to  maintain  perpetually  the  interment  of  those  already  there. 
It  shall  recite  that  the  purchase  money  was  paid  by  the  ladies  of  the  United 
States,  acting  in  the  name  and  style  of  the  Mount  Vernon  ladies  association  of 
the  Union,  and  at  their  instance  the  said  conveyance  is  made  to  the  state  of 
Virginia,    And  it  shall  covenant  that  the  estate  so  conveyed  shall  be  kept  free 
from  injury  and  desecration,  and  held  in  trust  for  said  association,  forever  sacred 
to  the  memory  of  George  Washington,  whose  mortal  remains  shall  be  kept  per- 
petually thereon.    And  then  upon  this  further  trust,  that  the  said  estate  shaU 
be  subject  to  visitation  by  the  state  of  Virginia  and  to  such  proper  and  becom- 
ing improvements  as  the  said  association  shall  desire  and  determine  and  make. 
But  in  default  of  said  association  making  such  proper  and  becoming  improve- 
ments or  keeping  the  same  in  proper  repair,  upon  such  default  being  found  by 
a  board  of  visitors,  then  said  estate  shall  be  subject  to  improvement  and  repair 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  state  of  Virginia  ;  and  to  this  end,  the  possession  of  said 
estate  shall  vest  in  said  state. 

5.  The  said  two  hundred  acres  of  ground  shall  include  the  tomb  of  George 
Washington,  mansion,  garden,  grounds,  and  the  wharf  and  landing  now  con- 
structed on  the  Potomac  river. 

6.  The  governor  shall  invest  the  money  paid  into  the  treasury  on  account  of 
said  association,  as  soon  as  convenient  after  he  has  notice  thereof,  in  stock, 
or  in  loans  to  individuals  or  to  corporate  bodies,  on  good  and  sufficient  security, 
real  and  personal;  at  an  interest  of  six  per  centum  per  annum,  to  be  paid  semi 
annually,  as  may  to  said  governor  seem  best ;   and  the  profits  arising  from  such 
investment  shall  also  be  semiannually  invested,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  the 
same  can  be  profitably  done.    And  the  said  governor  shall  so  continue  to  invest 
said  fund  and  the  profits  thereof  until  the  same  amount  to  the  sum  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars :   and  shall  thereupon  proceed  to  pay  the  same  to  said 
John  A.  Washington,  and  receive  from  him  the  aforesaid  deed  of  conveyance. 
The  governor  shall  in  like  manner  invest  all  and  any  money  of  said  association 
which  is  paid  into  said  treasury  for  the  purpose  of  improving  said  estate. 

7.  The  said  association  may  charge,  receive  and  collect  any  fee  which  may 
be  prescribed,  not  exceeding  twenty-five  cents  from  each  and  every  person  over 
ten  years  of  age,  who  may  land  at  and  visit  Mount  Vernon  and  the  grave,  tomb 
or  other  place  containing  the  remains  of  General  Washington ;   but  no  greater 
sum  or  fee  shall  be  charged  or  collected  in  any  case. 

8.  The  governor  of  Virginia  shall  annually  appoint  and  commission  five  fit 
and  proper  men,  who  shall  constitute  a  board  of  visitors  for  Mount  Vernon, 
with  the  ordinary  powers  of  a  board  of  visitors,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  visit 
that  place  and  examine  and  faithfully  report  to  the  governor  all  the  proceedings 
of  said  association  touching  Mount  Vernon,  and  the  manner  in  whicn  they  com- 
ply or  fail  to  comply  with  this  act  and  other  laws  of  the  land.    The  expenses  of 


said  board  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  this  commonwealth  in  the  same 
manner  that  the  expenses  of  other  boards  of  visitors  are  paid. 

9.  The  said  association  are  hereby  declared  and  made  a  body  politic  and 
corporate  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money  to  purchase  and  improve  the  afore- 
said two  hundred  acres  of  land  out  of  Mount  Vernon,  and  to  possess  and  man- 
age the  same  as  indicated  and  provided  for  in  this  act,  under  the  name  and  style 
of  The  Mount  Vernon  Ladies  Association  of  the  Union;  and  shall  be  subject 
to  all  the  provisions  and  entitled  to  all  the  rights,  powers,  privileges  and  immu- 
nities prescribed  in  the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  fifty-sixth  chapter  of  the 
Code  of  Virginia,  in  so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable  to  and  not  inconsistent 
with  the  provisions  of  this  act     But  the  said  association  shall  not  be  entitled  to 
the  benefit  of  the  foregoing  provisions  in  this  section  until  they  shall  have  pre- 
pared a  constitution  and  by-laws  for  said  corporation,  and  have  the  same  ap- 
proved by  the  governor  of  this  state ;   and  shall  also  file  a  copy  thereof,  so  ap- 
proved, in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  the  commonwealth. 

10.  This  act  shall  be  in  force  from  its  passage." 

And  on  the  igth  day  of  March,  1858,  was  by  said  Legislature  amended  as 
follows,  viz.: 

1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  general  assembly,  that  the  act  entitled  an  act  to  in- 
corporate the  "  Mount  Vernon  Ladies  Association  of  the  Union  "  and  to  au- 
thorize the  purchase  of  a  part  of  Mount  Vernon,  passed  March  17,  1856,  be 
amended  and  re-enacted  so  as  to  read  as  follows : 

"§  I.  The  Mount  Vernon  Ladies  Association  of  the  Union  as  heretofore 
organized,  shall  be  and  they  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  politic  and  corporate, 
under  the  name  and  style  of  The  Ladies  Mount  Vernon  Association  of  the 
Union  ;  and  by  this  name  and  style,  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  provisions,  and 
entitled  to  all  the  rights,  powers  and  privileges  and  immunities  prescribed  by 
existing  laws  in  so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable  to  like  corporations,  and  not 
inconsistent  with  this  act 

"  §  2.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  said  Mount  Vernon  Ladies  Association  of  the 
Union,  to  purchase,  hold  and  improve  two  hundred  acres  of  Mount  Vernon, 
including  the  late  mansion  as  well  as  the  tomb  of  George  Washington,  together 
with  the  garden,  grounds  and  wharf  and  landing  now  constructed  on  the  Poto- 
mac river  ;  and  to  this  end  they  may  receive  from  the  owner  and  proprietor  of 
the  said  land  a  deed  in  fee  simple  :  and  shall  have  and  exercise  full  power  over 
£he  use  and  management  of  the  same,  as  they  may  by  by-laws  and  rules  declare, 
provided  however,  that  the  said  Mount  Vernon  Ladies  Association  of  the  Union, 
shall  not  have  power  to  alien  the  said  land,  or  any  part  thereof,  or  to  lease  the 
same  without  the  consent  of  the  general  assembly  of  Virginia  first  had  and  ob- 
tained. 

"§3.  The  capital  stock  of  the  said  Mount  Vernon  Ladies  Association  of  the 
Union  shall  not,  including  the  two  hundred  acres  of  land  aforesaid,  exceed  the 
sum  of  five  hundred  dollars.  The  said  association,  in  contracting  with  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  same,  may  covenant  with  him  so  as  to  reserve  to  him  the  right  to 
inter  the  remains  of  such  persons  whose  remains  are  in  the  vault  at  Mount  Ver- 
non as  are  not  now  interred,  and  to  place  the  said  vault  in  such  a  secure  and 
permanent  condition  as  he  shall  see  fit,  and  to  inclose  the  same  so  as  not  to  in- 
clude more  than  a  half  acre  of  land;  and  the  said  vault,  the  remains  in  and 
around  it,  and  the  inclosure,  shall  never  be  removed  nor  disturbed,  nor  shall 
any  other  person  hereafter  ever  be  interred  or  entombed  within  the  said  vault 
or  enclosure. 

"  §  4.  The  said  property  herein  authorized  to  be  purchased  by  the  said  Mount 
Vernon  Ladies  Association  of  the  Union  shall  be  forever  held  by  it  sacred  to 
the  father  of  his  country ;  and  if  from  any  cause  the  said  association  shall  cease 
to  exist,  the  property  owned  by  the  said  association  shall  revert  to  the  common- 
wealth of  Virginia,  sacred  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  originally  purchased." 

2.  This  act  shall  be  in  force  from  its  passage. 

And  on  the  6th  day  of  April,  1858,  Mrs.  Ann  Pamelia  Cunningham,  Southern 


Matron,  Regent,  on  behalf  of  the  Association,  entered  Into  an  agreement  with 
John  A.  Washington  for  the  purchase  of  Mount  Vernon,  or  at  least,  that  part 
now  held  by  them  (the  original  tract  contained  4,000  acres),  conditioned  for  the 
payment  of  $18,000  in  cash;  one  bond  of  the  said  Association  for  $57,000,  pay- 
able 1st  January,  1859  ;  one  other  bond  of  said  Association  for  $41,666.66,  pay- 
able 22a  February,  1860;  one  other  bond  of  said  Association  for  $41,666.67, 
payable  on  22d  February,  1861  ;  and  one  other  bond  of  said  Association  for 
$41,666.67,  payable  on  22d  February,  1862,  with  lawful  interest  on  each  of  the 
bonds  from  their  dates.  "And  retaining  in  him  the  said  John  Augustine  Wash- 
ington, his  heirs  and  assigns,  the  title  to  the  property  aforesaid,  with  the  pos- 
session thereof,  until  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  with  all  the  in- 
terest which  may  accrue  as  hereinafter  mentioned,  shall  have  been  fully  paid  to 
him  or  them."  *  (This  condition  appears  in  the  said  agreement  before  the  dates 
and  amounts  of  the  bonds  are  inserted.) 

A  short  time  prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war,  the  Association  effected 
an  arrangement  by  which  they  were  enabled  to  discharge  the  entire  amount  of 
their  indebtedness  and  to  cancel  all  their  bonds  ;  but  it  appears  upon  an  exami- 
nation of  the  Records  of  Fairfax  county,  that  they  have  not,  as  yet,  obtained  a 
title  deed  for  their  property. 

The  Agent  of  the  Association  is  Mr.  Upton  H.  Herbert,  who,  though  having 
many  near  relatives  and  friends  in  the  army  of  the  late  Confederate  States,  yet 
remained  faithful  to  his  post,  still  resides  at  Mt.  Vernon  and  superintends  the 
care  of  the  place.  It  was  the  object  of  the  Association  to  improve  the  lands 
by  all  those  attractions  of  art  which  add  so  much  to  the  charms  of  natural  ad- 
vantages, but  the  late  war  has  very  materially  interfered  with  this  design.  The 
politeness  and  attention  of  Mr.  Herbert  to  visitors  leaves  nothing  unenjoyed  by 
them  which  they  could  expect. 

Note  3,  Page  I. — "  EVERY  PAGE."  It  will  be  observed  that  this  resolution  was 
overlooked  at  page  23,  probably  from  the  word  Washington  (the  city)  having 
been  the  last  word  on  the  page  and  mistaken  for  his  own  name. 

Note  4,  Page  i. — "  LAST  WILL  AND  TESTAMENT."  The  last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment of  George  Washington,  admitted  to  probate  and  executed  as  such,  was 
written,  as  will  be  seen  by  its  perusal,  in  the  summer  of  1799,  and  dated  the  gth 
day  of  July  of  that  year,  but  a  few  months  prior  to  his  death.  It  will  be  found 
singularly  complete  and  minute  in  its  description  and  disposition  of  his  immense 
estate,  and  these  facts  are  but  in  keeping  with  the  traits  that  marked  every  act. 
and  effort  of  his  wonderful  career.  As  he  was  always  ready  in  time  for  every 
duty  of  his  life,  so  he  would  seem  to  have  finished  just  in  time  the  last  worldly 
preparation  for  death  —  for  in  spiritual  readiness  he  had  been  long  prepared, 
and  having  "  set  his  house  in  order,"  there  was  nothing  to  shackle  his  spirit  in 
the  last  struggle  with  the  great  Conqueror.  As  the  last  will  and  testament  of 
the  Father  of  his  Country  is  of  peculiar  interest  to  all  who  cherish  his  memory, 
we  have  deemed  it  important  that  a  short  history  of  it  should  be  here  inserted. 
As  we  have  before  stated,  it  was  written  in  the  summer  of  1799,  and  dated  the 
9th  day  of  July,  and  it  would  seem  the  testator  omitted  the  word  "  nine  "  after 
"  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety  "  in  dating  his  will ;  however.it  is  very  certain 
it  was  intended  to  have  been  so  written,  as  he  finishes  the  sentence  thus  :  "and 
of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  twenty-fourth." 

On  the  morning  of  the  I4th  December,  1799,  between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock, 
he  departed  this  life.  "A  few  moments  before  he  expired,"  writes  Mr.  Lear,t 
"  he  made  several  efforts  to  speak.  At  length  he  said,  '  I  am  just  going.  Have 
me  decently  buried,  and  do  not  let  my  body  be  put  in  the  vault  in  less  than 


*  The  entire  agreement  is  recorded  in  Liber  A,  No.  4,  folios  19,  &c.,  of  Fairfax  County  Land 
Records. 

t  Mr.  Tobias  Lear,  of  New  Hampshire,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  Mr.  L.  had  been  in 
the  family  from  about  1783,  as  private  secretary  to  Washington,  and  iu  charge  of  the  instruction 
o;  O.  W.  P.  and  Miss  Nellie  Custis —  Washington's  adopted  children. 


three  days  after  I  am  dead'  He  then  looked  at  me  again  and  said,  '  Do  you 
understand  me?'  I  replied,  'Yes.'  "Tis  well,' said  he."  These  were  the 
last  words  that  passed  the  lips  of  the  great  Christian,  soldier  and  statesman, 
His  funeral  took  place  at  Mount  Vernon,  December  18,  1799,  without  that  pomp 
and  parade  that  usually  attends  the  obsequies  of  great  generals  or  statesmen. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Davis  read  the  funeral  service  at  the  vault,  and  pronounced  a 
short  but  affecting  address ;  after  which  the  Masons,  to  which  order  he  had 
been  attached  many  years,  performed  their  solemn  ceremonies,  and  the  body  was 
deposited  in  the  vault  At  a  Court  held  for  the  County  of  Fairfax  on  the  aoth 
day  of  January,  1800,  the  will  (of  which  this  is  a  copy)  was  presented  in  open 
court  by  George  Sttptoe  Washington,  Samuel  Washington  and  Lawrence  Lewis, 
three  of  the  executors  mentioned  in  said  will ;  and  they  making  oath  thereto, 
and  the  same  being  proved  by  the  oaths  of  Charles  Little,  Charles  Simms  and 
Ludwell  Lee,  to  be  m  the  true  handwriting  of  the  testator,  as  also  the  Schedule 
and  Notes  thereto  attached,  on  motion  the  same  were  ordered  to  be  recorded* 
"  and  a  certificate  was  granted  said  executors  for  obtaining  probat  thereof  in 
due  form." 

This  order  was  taken  by  the  County  Court  of  Fairfax,  Virginia,  and  entered 
up  by  George  Deneale,  then  Clerk  of  said  Court.f  As  Fairfax  County  contains 
Mount  Vernon  and  the  remains  of  our  loved  Washington,  we  deem  it  pertinent 
and  as  a  matter  of  general  interest,  to  give  in  brief  the  general  outlines  of  its 
formation  and  other  matter  connected  with  its  history.  It  was  in  1741  a  part  of 
Prince  William  County,  but  in  1742,  by  an  act  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  Fair- 
fax was  created  a  separate  county,  with  the  Potomac  river  as  its  northern  and 
eastern  boundary,  Bull  Run  as  its  southern  boundary,  and  Loudoun  County  as 
its  western  boundary ;  and  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  the  same  year  (1742)  an  or- 
ganization of  the  County  was  completed,  with  its  Courts,  &c.  Catesby  Cooke, 
Gent.,  was  the  first  Clerk  of  the  Court,  whose  commission  was  given  by  John  Rob* 
inson,  Secretary  of  the  Colony  of  Virginia  under  the  reign  of  George  II.,  at 

Williamsburg,  December  — ,  1742,  and  qualified  as  such December,  1742, 

and  was  recorded  \.  in  Liber  A,  No.  I,  folios  I  and  2,  of  said  County  records. 
After  the  death  of  Catesby  Cooke,  which  occurred  in  1746,  John  Graham  was 
by  Thomas  Nelson,  under  authority  from  William  Adair,  then  Secretary  of  said 
Colony,  appointed  to  succeed  him,  by  commission  dated  at  Williamsburg,  De- 
cember 9,  1 746.  After  this  period,  the  power  being  vested  in  the  Court  to 
choose  their  Clerk,  we  find  Peter  Waggener  to  have  succeeded  John  Graham, 
by  a  record  of  i?th  October,  1752.  Mr.  Waggener  remained  Clerk  of  said 
County  until  his  decease,  which  occurred  in  1 798,  when  we  find  by  records  of 
May  21,  1798,  George  Deneale,  Esq.,  to  have  been  appointed  Clerk,  being  the 
fourth  since  the  organization  of  saia  County,  before  whom  the  Executors  of  the 
last  will  and  testament  of  George  Washington  qualified.  Subsequent  to  this 
period,  the  County  was,  by  an  act  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  extended,  taking  a 
portion  from  Loudoun  County,  making  Sugar-Land  Run  the  western  boundary 
and  dividing  line  between  that  portion  of  Fairfax  and  Loudoun.  In  1800  the 
Virginia  Assembly  ceded  that  portion  of  Fairfax,  which  is  now  known  as  Alex- 
andria  County,. to  the  general  Government,  to  comprise  that  portion  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  on  the  south  side  of  the  Potomac  which  was  afterwards  re- 
troceded  to  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  is  now  known  as  Alexandria  County. 
Bleeding  at  every  pore  where  once  vitality  and  active  life  existed,  it  is  her  pride 
to  boast  of  scions  of  Virginia's  best  blood  —  men  in  whose  veins  course  the 
blood  of  Washington,  the  Lees,  the  Masons,  Fairfaxes,  and  many  other  old  and 
time-honored  families  whose  members  have  been  Virginia's  and  their  country's 


*  Recorded  in  Liber  H,  No.  i,  folios  i,  i,  &c.,  of  the  Records  of  Fairfiuc  County,  Virginia, 
t  See  copy  of  Order  after  Washington's  Notes. 

irfax 


C  H  was  occupied  by  them  during  the  late  war.  ine  original  manuscript  on  wnicn  tne  com- 
mission was  written,  w'ith  the  signature  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Colony,  (John  Robinson,)  and 
Seal  of  said  Colony,  is  now  in  possession  of  the  Publisher  of  thas  volume. 


brightest  ornaments  as  soldiers,  statesmen,  and  jurists,  and  who,  as  their  fathecs 
did,  "always  keep  the  latch-string  out  to  both  stranger  and  friend." 

In  1853,  Alfred  Moss  (now  deceased),  then  Clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  said 
County,  asked  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  the  privilege  of  withdrawing  the 
original  will  of  General  George  Washington  from  the  County  Records  for  the 
purpose  of  having  it  lithographed,  and  on  the  22d  March,  1853,  the  following 
Act  was  passed  : 

"  I.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  general  assembly,  that  Alfred  Moss,  the  Clerk  of 
the  County  Court  of  Fairfax,  be  and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  under  the  direc- 
tion, and  with  the  permission  of  the  County  Court  of  Fairfax,  to  withdraw  from 
the  Records  of  the  County  Court  of  Fairfax  the  original  Will  of  General  George 
Washington,  and  to  carry  the  same  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Commonwealth, 
and  to  entrust  the  same  to  the  custody  of  an  engraver,  to  be  selected  by  him  for 
the  purpose  of  having  said  original  will  lithographed  ;  provided  however,  that 
the  said  Alfred  Moss  shall,  before  removing  the  said  will,  satisfy  the  said  County 
Court  of  Fairfax,  that  he  has  taken  the  necessary  steps  to  insure  the  safe  keeping 
of  the  said  will  while  in  the  hands  of  the  engraver,  and  to  cause  the  same  to  be 
restored  to  the  files  of  the  County  Court,  after  the  same  shall  be  lithographed. 

"2,    This  Act  shall  be  in  force  from  its  passage." 

And  afterwards,  the  said  Court  having  given  their  consent  to  the  same,  M-. 
Moss  endeavored  to  have  the  will  lithographed,  but  from  causes  unknown,  he 
never  accomplished  his  purpose,  and  until  now  the  will  has  never  been  published. 
Washington  Irving,  In  his  life  of  Washington,  publishes  only  a  part  of  it ;  and 
we  find  upon  comparing  his  publication  with  the  original,  that  the  portion  he 
gives  as  taken  from  it,  is  entirely  incorrect*  In  July,  1861,  when  the  Confed- 
erate army  fell  back  from  Fairfax  C.  H.,  Mr.  Moss  carefully  enveloped  Washing- 
ton's will,  endorsing  thereon ; 

"  The  Original  Will  of 
GENERAL  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

Bdongs  to  the  Records  of  Fairfax  County  Court.  To  be  returned  to  roe,  or 
any  one  legally  authorized  to  receive  it. 

ALFRED  MOSS,  CLERK, 
Fairfax  County  Court." 

The  will,  with  other  Records  of  his  Court,  was  then  carried  to  Richmond 
Virginia,  and  the  will  deposited  with  George  W.  Mumford,  Esq.,  then  Secretary 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia.  In  1862,  Henry  T.  Brooks,  who  had  been 
elected  to  fill  the  Clerkship  thus  vacated  by  Alfred  Moss,  published  over  his 
signature,  an  article,  which  was  copied  in  many  of  the  papers  of  the  Northern 
press,  stating  that  Mr.  Moss  "  had  taken  away  the  will  of  General  Washington, 
and  that  it  had  been  sold,  and  was  then  on  exhibition  in  the  British  Museum." 
As  both  of  these  gentlemen  died  before  the  close  of  the  late  war,  we  would  say, 
in  justice  to  them,  that  Mr.  Brooks  had  been  imposed  upon  by  some  one,  or  had 
been  \>*A\\  informed  zs .to  its  whereabouts,  and  that  great  injustice  was  done  Mr. 
Moss.  Mr.  Moss  having  died  in  the  fall  of  1862,  Mr.  Thomas  Moore,  his  dep- 
uty, was  appointed  in  the  following  spring,  Clerk,  pro  tempore,  of  said  Court 
In  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Moore,  he  remarked  that  in  the  spring  of  1863,  he, 
as  said  Clerk,  called  upon  Mr.  Mumford,  who  assured  him  of  the  safety  and 
preservation  of  the  will.  He  permitted  it  to  continue  with  the  Secretary  of  the 
State,  where  it  remained  until  the  summer  of  1865,  when  Mr.  O.  W.  Huntt,  who 
had  been  selected  by  the  County  Court  of  said  County  to  look  up  the  missing 
records  and  papers  of  their  Court,  received  it  from  Mr.  Lewis,  then  occupying 
the  position  formerly  held  by  Mr.  Mumford,  who  stated  that  the  will  had  been 
found  in  his  office  among  the  papers  lying  scattered  by  Federal  soldiers,  on  the 
floor  of  one  of  the  rooms.  Mr.  Huntt  returned  the  will,  with  other  records, 
&c,  to  the  County,  where  it  is  now  on  file  in  charge  of  Ferdinand  D.  Richard* 

*  Vide  Irving'*  Life  of  Washington,  V.,  folio  358. 


son,  th«  present  Clef  k  of  said  Court  5  and  though  from  frequent  handling  has 
been  considerably  torn,  and  can  only  be  deciphered  with  the  greatest  patience, 
and  by  comparing  with  the  record  heretofore  referred  to,  yet  is  eagerly  sought 
for  and  read  by  those  visiting  Fairfax  C.  H.  In  consideration  of  its  condition, 
the  Court  at  its  November  Term,  1865,  passed  the  following  order : 

*•  It  appearing  to  the  Court  that  the  original  will  of  General  George  Washing- 
ton, of  Mount  Veraon,  has  been  much  worn  and  mutilated  from  frequent  hand- 
ling, and  that  it  is  liable  to  further  injury  from  the  same  cause ;  it  is  ordered 
that  the  Clerk  of  this  Court  purchase,  at  the  expense  of  the  County,  a  suitable 
case,  in  which  he  is  directed  to  deposit  the  said  will" 

This  order  was  not  carried  into  effect  by  Mr.  William  H.  Fitzhugh,  then 
Clerk,  from  what  cause  we  did  not  learn,  but  were  informed  by  Mr.  Richardson 
that  it  was  his  intention  to  carry  out  the  order  as  soon  as  he  could  have  a  suita- 
ble case  constructed,  which  is  to  be  of  glass,  that  parties  visiting  his  office  in 
search  of  it  may  look  upon,  without  handling  it. 

Note  5,  Page  I. — "  MARTHA  WASHINGTON."  General  Washington  first  met 
her  in  1758  at  Mr.  Chamberlayne's,  near  the  Pamunky,  a  branch  of  the  York 
river,  while  he  was  on  his  way  from  Winchester  to  Williamsburg  to  lay  before 
the  military  council  there  assembled  the  destitute  condition  of  the  Virginia 
troops.  At  this  time,  says  Irving,  "  she  was  a  young  and  blooming  widow,  Mrs. 
Martha  Custis,  daughter  of  John  Dandridge,  both  patrician  names  in  the  prov- 
inces." Her  husband,  John  Parke  Custis,  had  been  dead  about  three  years, 
leaving  her  with  two  young  children.*  She  is  represented  as  being  rather  small 
in  stature,  but  extremely  well  formed,  with  a  pleasant  countenance,  dark  hazel 
eyes  and  hair,  with  those  frank,  engaging  manners  so  peculiar  to  and  captivating 
in  Southern  ladies.  Added  to  these  attractions,  she  was  possessed  of  a  large 
fortune.  It  seems  that  though  Washington  was  on  urgent  business,  requiring 
immediate  attention,  he  for  once  deviated  from  his  usual  prompt  attention  to 
business  entrusted  to  his  care,  and  instead  of  leaving  Mr.  Chamberlayne's  that 
evening,  as  contemplated,  orders  for  the  horses  were  countermanded,  and  it  was 
not  until  next  morning  that  he  was  again  in  the  saddle,  for  Williamsburg. 

The  White  House,\  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Custis,  was  in  New  Kent  County, 
but  a  short  distance  from  that  city.  So  he  had  frequent  opportunities  to  visit 
the  beautiful  and  fascinating  young  widow ;  and  we  have  no  doubt  that  while 
at  Williamsburg  he  had  both  engaged  her  affection  and  hand,  for  we  are  told 
by  Irving,!  that  immediately  after  the  reduction  of  Fort  Duquesne,§  and  the 
French  domination  of  the  Ohio  being  at  an  end,  and  quiet  once  more  restored  to 
his  native  province,  he  retired  from  the  service.  His  marriage  with  Mrs.  Custis 
took  place  shortly  after  his  return.  It  was  celebrated  on  the  6th  of  January, 
1759,  at  the  White  House,  the  residence  of  the  bride,  in  the  good  old  hospita- 
ble style  of  Virginia,  amid  a  joyous  assemblage  of  relatives  and  friends. 

Note  6,  Page  2. — "  SHALL  RECEIVE  THEIR  FREEDOM."  "  From  private  letters 
which  we  have  been  kindly  permitted  to  peruse,  and  from  many  expressions 
used  by  him  in  his  will,  it  seems  that  it  had  long  been  his  earnest  wish  to  eman- 
cipate the  slaves  held  by  him  in  his  own  right;"  but  from  causes  that  appear 
manifest  in  the  perusal  of  his  will,  and  show  his  great  forethought  and  kind 
consideration  of  them,  it  was  impracticable  and  grating  to  the  kind  feelings  of 
his  good  and  generous  heart  But  when  we  consider  that  after  providing  for 
the  loved  one  whom  God  had  given  him  as  a  companion  for  earth's  pilgrimage, 
the  first  object  that  engaged  his  attention  was  his  loving  and  faithful  slaves,  we 
must  at  once  see  of  how  great  magnitude  this  great  and  good  Southern  soldier, 
statesman  and  patriot  considered  this  great  moral  evil,  slavery,  though  born  and 


*  John  Parke  Custis  and  his  sister.    This  young  lady  died  at  Mount  Vernon,  in  the  17*  yea 
of  her  age,  on  the  igth  of  June,  1773. 

t  From  which  the  President's  mansion  in  Washington  dented  its  name, 
t  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  YoL  i,  164.  J  Now  Fittsbor* 


9 

educated  a  slaveholder.  In  a  letter  to  John  F.  Mercer,  of  Virginia,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1786,  he  writes:  "I  never  mean,  unless  some  particular  circumstances 
Should  compel  me  to  it,  to  possess  another  slave  by  purchase,  it  being  among 
my  first  wishes  to  see  some  plan  adopted  by  which  slavery  in  this  country  may 
be  abolished  by  law."  * 

M  And  eleven  years  afterwards,  in  August,  1797,  he  writes  to  his  nephew,  Law- 
rence Lewis,  which  we  have  had  in  our  hands,  "  I  wish  from  my  soul  that  the 
legislature  of  this  State  could  see  the  policy  of  a  gradual  abolition  of  slavery. 
It  might  prevent  much  future  mischief."  t  How  prophetic!  Had  one  been 
inspired  by  the  Almighty  he  could  not  have  spoken  with  more  truth.  He  saw 
that  sectional  hatred  being  engendered  and  nurtured  on  its  account  which  burst 
upon  our  once  happy  country  in  1  860-61  like  some  destroying  angel  of  the 
avenging  gods.  Washington  was  not  alone  in  his  views  upon  this  subject 
Jefferson  and  many  other  prominent  men  of  their  day  were  of  the  same  opinion  ; 
and  had  not  fanaticism,  blind  fanaticism,  been  turned  loose  to  prey  upon  reason,  all 
that  has  been  accomplished  at  the  expense  of  millions  and  millions  of  treasure, 
with  a  national  blackness  of  mourning  shrouding  every  hearthstone  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  our  desolated  land,  might  have  been,  ere  the  close  of 
thfe  present  generation,  effected  peaceably  and  quietly,  leaving  a  united,  harmo- 
nious and  prosperou;s  people,  without  national  cemeteries  for  martyrs  to  princi- 
ple, without  a  Booth  or  an  assassinated  President  to  mark  the  annals  of  our 
country's  history. 

Note  7,  Page  2.  —  "  DOWER  NEGROES."  These  negroes  he  only  had  a  life  in- 
terest in  by  his  marriage  with  Mrs.  Custis,  and  at  her  death,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  went  to  heirs  of  her  husband,  John  Parke  Custis;  hence  he  says,  "it 
not  being  in  my  power  under  the  tenure  by  which  the  dower  negroes  are  held  to 
manumit  them."  Mrs.  Martha  Washington,  in  1801,  manumitted  all  the  slaves 
she  held  in  her  own  right.  This  deed  of  manumission  was  recorded  in  Liber 
C  C.,  folio  323,  of  Fairfax  County  Records,  and  lost  during  the  war,  therefore 
we  cannot  arrive  at  the  number  thus  liberated. 

Note  8,  Page  2.  —  "  SUPPORT  THEMSELVES."  We  find  that  there  were  many 
of  this  class,  and  were  a  heavy  expense,  supported  by  the  Executors  out  of  the 
proceeds  of  his  estate  for  numbers  of  years  ;  as  late  as  the  year  1832,  when  the 
last  estate  account  of  Washington  was  settled  by  John  A.  Washington,  Executor 
of  Bushrod  Washington,  the  last  surviving  executor  of  the  will,  we  find  the 
estate  charged  as  having  paid  out  for  rent,  clothing,  provisions,  coffins  and  fune- 
ral expenses,  the  sum  012788.05.  The  last  item  of  these  charges  being  for  funeral 
expenses  of  three  free  negroes,  $12.00,  dated  December  31,  1829.$ 


,  Page  3.  —  "To  READ  AND  WRITE."  This  provision  of  the  will  was 
never  carried  into  effect,  as  the  statutory  laws  of  the  State  of  Virginia  expressly 
prohibited  schools  for  the  instruction  of  negroes. 

Note  10,  Page  4.  —  "  WILLIAM"  (calling  himself  William  Lee)  was  the  body 
servant  and  constant  attendant  of  Washington  during  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  until  his  injuries  incapacitated  him  for  the  position.  After  this,  Christopher 
became  his  favorite  servant,  and  attended  him  with  that  fidelity,  affectionate 
watchfulness  and  anxiety  that  has  ever  been  the  marked  characteristic  of  the 
Southern  slave  when  kindly  treated  and  well  cared  for.  William  has  become 
quite  famous,  having  had  as  many  as  five  different  funerals,  and  each  claiming 
to  be  that  of  the  original  William  :  once  he  died  in  North  Carolina,  once  in 
Missouri,  and  once  in  Arkansas  ;  and  we  are  of  opinion  that  we  have  seen  two 


*  Irving' s  Washington,  V,  folio  288. 

t  Irving's  Washington,  Vol.  5,  folio  299. 

J  Will  Book  Q,  folio  262.  Fairfax  County  Records. 


10 

accounts  stating  that  the  original  William  had  died  at  different  times  in  New 
York  ;  the  last  time  occurring  in  the  winter  of  1867.  The  William,  of  whom 
in  all  probability  these  accounts  are  but  mere  fabrications,  most  likely  died  at 
his  master's  old  homestead,  Mount  Vernon. 

Note  n,  Page  4. — "ALEXANDRIA  ACADEMY."  The  corner  stone  of  this  in- 
stitution was  laid  on  the  7th  of  September,  1785,  by  the  Alexandria  Lodge  (No, 
39)  of  Free  Masons,  of  which  lodge  Washington  was  a  member:  he  was  also  a 
patron  and  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy.  The  building  was  erected 
and  is  yet  standing  on  the  lot  at  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Wolfe  Streets. 
The  late  Dr.  Elias  Harrison,  of  Alexandria,  Virginia,  was  one  of  the  Professors 
in  the  days  of  its  prosperity.  Many  of  the  students  of  this  institution  became 
eminent  men,  amongst  whom  were  General  R  E.  Lee,  the  late  Senator  Pearce,  of 
Maryland,  and  others.  The  old  Academy  building  in  the  course  of  time  be- 
came private  property ;  and  the  corporate  authorities  of  Alexandria  assumed 
the  Trusteeship  of  the  Washington  endowment,  and  built  a  larger  structure  for 
the  accommodation  of  a  greater  number  of  pupils,  and  the  name  changed  from 
"Alexandria  Academy"  to  that  of  "  Washington  School."  Col.  S.  King  Shay, 
an  old  and  respected  citizen  of  Alexandria,  is  now  its  principal,  and  at  different 
times  in  charge  eighteen  years,  once  for  sixteen  consecutive  years. 

Note  12,  Page  6. — For  many  years  Washington  had  been  convinced  of  the 
practicability  of  an  easy  and  short  communication  between  the  Potomac  and 
Tames  rivers  and  the  waters  of  the  Ohio,  thence  to  the  great  chain  of  northern 
lakes,  and  saw  plainly  the  immense  advantages  that  must  finally  accrue  to  his 
native  State,  Virginia,  and  had  gone  so  far  as  to  attempt  the  organization  of  a 
company  to  undertake  at  their  own  expense  the  opening  of  such  communica- 
tion, but  the  breaking  out  of  the  American  Revolution  put  a  stop  to  the  enter- 
prise. In  1784,  in  company  with  Dr.  Craik,  he  visited  the  waters  of  the  Ohio, 
Kanawha,  and  other  western  waters  of  his  State,  to  make  observations  and 
collect  information  on  the  subject.  After  his  return,  upon  his  suggesting  the 
opening  of  said  communication,  Benjamin  Harrison,  the  Governor  of  Virginia, 
being  struck  with  his  ideas  of  the  plan  for  opening  the  navigation  of  the  western 
•waters,  laid  the  matter  before  the  State  Legislature.  Washington  immediately 
repaired  to  Richmond.  He  arrived  there  on  the  I5th  day  of  November,  1784, 
and  in  the  latter  part  of  December  of  the  same  year,  we  find  him  at  Annapolis, 
at  the  request  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  arranging  matters  with  the  Assembly 
of  Maryland,  respecting  the  communication  between  the  Potomac  and  western 
waters.  Through  his  individual  exertions  and  influence,  two  companies  were 
formed  under  the  fostering  care  of  these  States,  for  opening  the  navigation  of 
the  Potomac  and  James  rivers,  and  he  was  immediately  appointed  president  of 
both. 

By  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  in  1785,  fifty  shares  in  the 
Potomac  and  one  hundred  shares  in  the  James  River  company  were  appropria- 
ted for  his  benefit.  The  aggregate  amount  of  these  shares  was  about  $40,000. 
This  seems  greatly  to  have  embarrassed  him,  as  the  reader  will  perceive.  He 
at  first  declined,  but  subsequently  accepted  the  shares,  upon  condition  that  he 
should  be  permitted  to  appropriate  them  to  public  uses,  which  condition  the 
Virginia  Legislature  accepted.  Thus,  to  our  loved  Washington,  do  we  owe  the 
vast  and  incalculable  benefits  derived  from  these  great  inland  water  communica- 
tions. 

Note  13,  Page  9. — "UNIVERSITY."  In  his  message  to  Congress,  convened 
January  8, 1790,  he  says  that  furnishing  the  means  of  higher  education  at  the 
seat  of  government  was  "well  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Legis- 
lature." Seven  years  later,  in  1797,  in  his  last  appeal  to  Congress  on  the  sub- 
ject, he  says  of  the  assimilation  of  the  principles,  opinions  and  manners  of  our 
countrymen,  by  the  common  education  of  a  portion  of  our  youth  from  every 
quarter,  that  "  the  more  homogeneous  our  citizens  can  be  made  in  these  particu- 
lars, the  greater  will  be  the  prospect  of  a  permanent  union."  It  seems  this 


II 

coveted  desire  was  never  carried  Into  effect,  and  the  fifty  shares  thus  donated 
reverted  to  the  estate. 

Note  14,  Page  10. — "LIBERTY  HALL  ACADEMY,"  now  WASHINGTON  COL- 
LEGE, had  its  origin  in  a  classical  school  established  before  the  war  of  Ameri- 
can Independence,  by  the  early  settlers  of  the  Valley  of  Virginia.  _ 

During  the  period  of  its  infancy,  it  was  sustained  by  the  munificence  of  its 
founders,  who  secured  for  it  in  1782  its  present  charter,  the  school  bearing  the 
name  of  LIBERTY  HALL  ACADEMY  until  1798,  when  it  was  styled  WASHINGTON 
ACADEMY,  in  honor  of  its  great  benefactor,  and  subsequently  WASHINGTOM 
COLLEGE. 

The  Virginia  Legislature,  attesting  their  appreciation  of  the  unexampled 
merits  of  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  in  October,  1784,  passed  an  act  vesting  in  him 
one  hundred  shares  in  the  James  River  Navigation  Company,  which  he  declined, 
except  on  condition  that  the  Legislature  would  permit  him  to  transfer  the  dona- 
tion to  some  object  of  a  a  public  nature.  In  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  Gen. 
WASHINGTON,  the  Legislature  substituted  for  the  act  of  October,  1784,  an  act 
of  October,  1785,  providing  that  this  fund  be  conveyed  to  him  to  be  applied  as 
he  might  indicate.  Gen.  WASHINGTON  determined  to  appropriate  this  gift  of 
Virginia  to  the  endowment  of  an  institution  of  learning  upon  the  upper  waters 
of  James  river,  and  accordingly,  by  his  will,  conveyed  it  to  LIBERTY  HALL 
ACADEMY.  This  munificent  endowment  now  yields  to  the  College  the  interest 
upon  $50,000  annually. 

Subsequently  the  CINCINNATI  SOCIETY,  an  organization  composed  of  Revo- 
lutionary Officers  and  having  for  its  object  the  relief  of  indigent  persons  of  this 
dags,  after  accomplishing  the  purposes  for  which  they  organized,  determined  to 
convey  the  funds  in  their  treasury  to  some  public  institution,  and  influenced, 
as  they  avowed,  by  the  example  of  Gen.  WASHINGTON,  bestowed  the  gift  upon 
WASHINGTON  COLLEGE.  From  this  donation  the  College  now  enjoys  an  en- 
dowment of  $23,000. 

In  1826,  JOHN  ROBINSON,  of  Rockbridge  County,  Virginia,  a  revolutionary 
soldier,  bequeathed  to  the  same  object  his  estate,  which  yielded  about  $40,000, 
and  enabled  the  Trustees  to  increase  very  materially  the  philosophical  appara- 
tus and  the  buildings  of  the  College.  In  acknowledgment  of  this  generous  be- 
quest the  "  Robinson  Professorship  of  Physical  Science "  was  established. 

Thus  thrice  endowed  so  liberally  by  revolutionary  heroes,  WASHINGTON  COL- 
LEGE became  a  seat  of  learning  to  which  were  attracted  many  young  men  of 
Virginia  and  other  States,  whose  influence  became  conspicuous  in  the  pulpit, 
the  forum,  and  the  halls  of  legislation — among  whom  may  be  named  the  ALEX- 
ANDERS, the  STUARTS,  the  MCDOWELLS,  the  PRESTONS,  and  many  others  that 
fill  an  enviable  place  in  the  history  of  our  country. 

In  the  Spring  of  1861,  the  College  was  enjoying  a  full  share  of  public  patron- 
qge,  but  its  regular  exercises  were  interrupted,  and  for  a  time  suspended  alto- 
gether. The  students,  animated  by  the  spirit  that  moved  the  young  men  of  the 
South  generally,  organized  themselves  into  a  military  company,  joined  the  im- 
mortal JACKSON  at  Winchester,  and  for  four  years  shared  the  fortunes  of  the 
STONEWALL  BRIGADE,  winning  from  their  illustrious  commander  the  designa- 
tion of  "  more  than  brave  young  men."  Many  of  them  do  not  survive  to  wit- 
ness the  present  prosperity  of  their  Alma  Mater. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1864,  Gen.  DAVID  HUNTER  occupied  the  town  of  Lex- 
ington, and  under  his  eyes  the  College  that  bore  the  name  and  enjoyed  the  mu- 
nificence of  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  was  sacked ;  its  chemical  and  philosophical 
apparatus  destroyed ;  and  its  libraries,  to  a  great  extent,  ruined. 

The  Board  of  Trustees,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  summer  of  1865,  took  steps 
to  repair  these  desolations,  in  which  they  have  been,  to  a  gratifying  extent,  suc- 
cessful ;  and  in  order  to  establish  the  Institution  on  a  firmer  footing  than  it  ever 
before  held,  upon  the  acceptance  of  the  Presidency  by  General  R.  E.  LEE,  they 
resolved  to  expand  the  sphere  of  its  operations,  and,  by  an  enlarged  scientific 
course,  to  give  it  a  place  among  the  first  institutions  of  the  land,  thus  respond- 
ing emphatically  to  the  material  wants  of  the  country. 


12 

Mr.  C.  H.  McCoRMTCK,  a  Virginian,  born  and  reared  Jn  the  vicinity  of  Wash- 
ington College  and  now  a  wealthy  citizen  of  New  York,  bestowed  the  gener- 
ous gift  of  $15,000,  by  which  the  Trustees  have  been  enabled  to  establish  the 
"  McCormick  Professorship  of  Experimental  Philosophy  and  Practical  Mechan- 
ics." 

_  The  late  Mr.  WARREN  NEWCOMB,  of  New  York  City,  made  the  liberal  dona- 
tion of  $10,000,  and  thus  rendered  essential  aid  in  filling  other  chairs, 

Mr.  RATHMELL  WILSON,  of  Philadelphia,  desiring  to  repair  the  damage  done 
the  College  Library  by  the  troops  under  command  of  Gen.  David  Hunter,  dona- 
ted a  large  number  of  rare  and  valuable  books  belonging  to  the  library  of  his 
brother,  the  late  THOMAS  B.  WILSON,  whose  name  is  conspicuously  associated 
with  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  the  Entomological  Society  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

From  a  Catalogue  for  1867,  kindly  furnished  the  publisher  by  the  President, 
General  R.  E.  LEE,  we  find  the  number  of  students  to  have  been  399,  now  prob- 
ably far  exceeding  400. 

Note  15,  Page  n. — That  generous  fatherly  affection  and  charity  which  had 
ever  marked  his  treatment  of  and  liberality  toward  relatives,  is  here  prominently 
displayed  in  providing  for  the  transfer  of  this  property  in  question,  since  none 
of  the  parties  had  legal  titles  thereto, 

Note  16,  Page  13. —  This  provision  of  his  will  was  strictly  and  religiously  car- 
ried into  effect.  It  would  seem  that  Bartholomew  Dandridge  left  his  estate  con- 
siderably involved,  and  to  liberate  so  large  a  number  of  the  working  force  on 
the  plantation  of  his  widow  immediately,  would  have  created  great  distress  to 
her  and  her  children,  and  would  have  turned  upon  the  charity  of  the  County  or 
State  many  old  and  decrepid,  as  well  as  young  and  helpless  slaves,  unable  to 
shift  for  themselves  :  hence  this  wise  provision, 

Note  17,  Page  i^ — "BusHROD  WASHINGTON,"  son  of  John  A.  Washington, 
third  brother  by  his  father's  last  marriage,  and  the  father  of  Col.  John  August- 
ine, late  proprietor  of  Mount  Vernon.  To  him  and  his  son  Col.  John  A.  Wash- 
ington, do  we  owe  the  preservation  of  all  the  valuable  papers  and  relics  of  our 
loved  Washington  ;  many  of  which  are  at  present  in  possession  of  the  family  of 
the  late  Col.  John  A.  Washington,  who  resides  near  Charlestown,  JeffersonXJa, 
West  Virginia. 

Note  1 8,  Page  15. — "Or.  KANHAWA."  We  find  in  many  of  the  writings, 
both  historical  and  private,  the  Kanawha  thus  spelt,  and  we  have  no  doubt  that 
it  is  the  proper  spelling  of  the  Indian  name  from  which  it  was  taken.  The  pro- 
nunciation would  remain  the  same. 

Note  19,  Page  15. — "!N  THE  COUNTY  OF  LOUDOUN."  This  is  clearly  an 
error,  as  the  County  of  Loudoun  never  embraced  that  portion  of  Fairfax.  This 
tract  is  situated  on  Difficult  run,  near  where  it  crosses  the  Pike  leading  from 
George  Town  to  Leesburg,  Virginia,  and  was  sold  by  Washington's  executors  to 
the  Sheppards,  of  Fairfax,  and  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Thomas  Peacock,  of  ^aid 
County. 

Note  20,  Page  17. — "LAWRENCE  AND  ROBERT  WASHINGTON."  We  are  not 
advised  as  to  whether  or  not  any  relationship  existed  between  them  and  the  tes- 
tator, but  from  this  clause,  and  no  evidence  that  any  did,  we  are  inclined  to  the 
belief  they  were,  as  he  says,  "acquaintances  and  friends  of  my  juvenile  years." 

Note  21,  Page  17.—"  DR.  CRATK."  Dr.  James  Craik,  a  gentleman  who  prob- 
ably enjoyed  as  much  if  not  more  of  Washington's  confidence  and  esteem  ihan 
any  other  man,  and  who  attended  him  in  his  last  illness,*  was  ayoung  Scotchman, 
well  bred,  and  of  superior  mind  and  attainments.  He,  like  Dr.  Hugh  Mercer, 
of  Revolutionary  fame,  fled  from  Scotland  after  the  defeat  of  Charles  Edward, 


13 

at  Culloden,  and  settled  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia.  He  was  commissioned  on 
the  same  day  that  Washington  was,  as  an  officer  in  the  war  against  the  French  and 
Indians  ;  and  we  find  him  with  Washington  at  Great  Meadows  in  May,  1754,  as 
Surgeon  of  a  Virginia  Regiment,  and  during  the  continuance  of  this  war  we 
find  him  intimately  connected  with  him.  Again  we  find  him,  in  1777,  with 
Washington.  "About  this  time,  (May,  1777,)  Washington  had  the  satisfaction 
of  drawing  near  him  his  old  friend  and  travelling  companion,  Dr.  James  Craik,  the 
same  who  had  served  with  him  in  Braddock's  campaign,  and  had  voyaged  with 
him  down  the  Ohio  ;  for  whom  he  now  procured  the  appointment  of  assistant 
director-general  of  the  Hospital  department  of  the  middle  district,  which  in- 
cluded the  States  between  the  Hudson  and  the  Potomac.  In  offering  the  situa- 
tion to  the  doctor,  he  writes  :  '  You  know  how  far  you  may  be  benefited  or  in- 
jured by  such  an  appointment,  and  whether  it  is  advisable  or  practicable  for  you 
to  quit  your  family  and  practice  at  this  time.  I  request,  as  a  friend,  that  my 
proposing  this  matter  to  you  may  have  no  influence  upon  your  acceptance  of  it 
I  have  no  other  end  in  view  than  to  serve  you.' "  *  This  position  he  filled  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  friends  and  with  great  credit  to  himself.  After  the 
termination  of  the  Revolution,  he  located  in  Alexandria,  Virginia,  where  he  con- 
tinued the  practice  of  his  profession  until  his  death.  He  continued  through 
life  the  attached  and  devoted  friend  of  Washington.! 

Note  22,  Page  17. — "REV.  NOW  BRYAN  LORD  FAIRFAX,"  was  brother  of 
George  Wm.  Fairfax,  and  son  of  old  Lord  Fairfax,  of  Belvoir  notoriety,  but  who, 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  for  some  time  prior  (1752  or 
3,)  resided  at  Greenway  Court,  near  Winchester.  Lord  Fairfax  was  a  great 
admirer  of  Washington's  military  genius,  as  well  as  his  great  moral  worth  and 
intelligence.  During  the  French  war  we  find  that  he  was  frequently  in  Wash- 
ington's camp,  near  Winchester,  aiding  the  young  commander  with  his  counsels 
or  his  sword.  Washington  had  been  from  his  early  youth  warmly  attached  to 
the  Fairfaxes  ;  owing,  probably,  in  part  to  the  intimacy  which  existed  between 
him  and  them, —  his  brother,  Lawrence  Washington,  having  married  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Hon.  William  Fairfax,  of  Fairfax  County  —  and  his  frequent  visits  to 
Belvoir.  When  Washington  presided  as  moderator  of  a  public  meeting,  held 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Fairfax  County  to  discuss  the  recent  acts  of  the  British 
Parliament,  and  was  appointed  chairman  of  a  committee  to  draw  up  resolutions 
expressive  of  the  sentiments  of  that  meeting,  and  to  report  the  same  to  a  gen- 
eral meeting  of  the  County,  to  be  held  a^  the  Court  House  on  the  i8th  of  July, 
1774,  he  saw,  and  with  painful  emotions,  that  "the  course  that  public  measures 
were  taking,  shocked  the  loyal  feelings  of  his  valued  friend,  Bryan  Fairfax."  J 
When  the  news  of  Lexington  reached  Mount  Vernon,  Bryan  Fairfax  was  Wash- 
ington's guest.  Irving  says,  "  The  worthy  and  gentle-spirited  Fairfax  deplored 
it  deeply."  He  saw  too  plainly  that  all  his  pleasant  relations  in  life  must  be 
broken  up  and  his  dearest  friends  arrayed  against  the  government  to  which  he 
was  loyally  attached  and  had  determined  to  adhere.  This  had  rendered  his  sit- 
uation among  his  former  friends  embarrassing  and  unpleasant,  and  while  he  dis- 
approved of  the  measures  of  the  British  government  which  had  severed  the 
colonies  from  England,  yet  he  was,  as  we  have  above  intimated,  loyal  to  his 
king.  He  therefore  determined  to  go  to  England  and  remain  until  peace 
should  be  restored  to  his  loved  colony,  Virginia.  To  effect  this  purpose  he  vis- 
ited Washington,  at  that  time  with  the  army  at  Valley  Forge.  Washington, 
who  knew  his  feelings  best,  and  respected  his  conscientiousness,  we  are  told, 
received  him  with  that  warm  cordiality  of  former  and  happier  days,  for  with 
him  he  brought  recollections  dearest  to  his  heart,  of  Mount  Vernon  and  Bel- 
voir, happy  days  of  invigorating  pleasures  on  the  beautiful  banks  of  Virginia's 
noble  old  Potomac,  As  it  was  Mr.  Fairfax's  intention  to  embark  at  New  York, 


*  See  Irring's  Washington,  VoL  y,  folio  994,  &e, 
t  Irving's  Washington,  Vol.  iii,  folio  68. 
t  living's  Washington,  VoL  I,  folio  354. 


14 

Washington  furnished  him  with  the  necessary  papers  to  insure  his  safety  to  that 
city.  After  arriving  there,  the  conscience  of  Mr.  Fairfax  would  not  permit  him 
to  take  the  oaths  required  to  secure  his  passage  to  England  ;  he  therefore  ob- 
tained permission  from  the  British  commander  to  return  to  his  home  in  Virginia, 
where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death,  which  happened  in  1802,  at  seven- 
ty-five years  of  age.  He  became  proprietor  of  Belvoir,  and  after  the  death  of 
his  father,  heir  to  the  family  title,  but  the  latter  he  never  assumed.  In  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  he  became  a  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Old  Lord 
Fairfax,  of  Greenway  Court,  Washington's  early  friend  and  patron,  lived  to  aa 
aged  man  at  his  beautiful  retreat  in  the  Shenandoah,  and  at  his  death  had  at- 
tained his  ninety-second  year.  The  reverend  historiographer  of  Mount  Vernon 
records  his  death  in  homely  prose  and  verse,  thus : 

"  When  old  Lord  Fairfax  heard  that  Washington  had  captured  Lord  Corrv- 
wallis  and  all  his  army,  he  called  to  his  black  waiter,  'Come,  Joe  !  carry  me  to 
bed,  for  it  is  high  time  for  me  to  die ! 

Then  up  rose  Joe,  all  at  the  word, 

And  took  his  master's  arm, 
And  thus  to  bed  he  softly  led 

The  lord  of  Greenway  farm. 

There  oft  he  called  on  Britain's  name, 

And  oft  he  wept  full  sore, 
Then  sighed  —  thy  will,  oh  Lord,  be  done  — 

And  word  spake  never  more." 

[See  Weems'  Life  of  Washington. 

Though  frank  and  open  in  his  adherence  to  Great  Britain,  he  lived  unmolested 
by  the  Whigs,  and  was  popular  and  highly  respected  by  his  neighbors. 

Note  23,  Page  17. — "  GEN.  DELA  FA  YETTE,"  whose  memory  will  be  embalmed 
for  all  time  in  the  American  heart  by  reason  of  his  aid  in  our  struggle  for  liberty 
from  the  tyranny  of  Great  Britain. 

Note  24,  Page  18. — "  TOBIAS  LEAR."  Washington  had  long  had  him  in  his 
service  as  private  secretary  and  preceptor  to  his  adopted  children,  George  Wash- 
ington Parke  Custis  and  sister. 

Note  25,  Page  21. — These  two  gentlemen  were  sons  of  Lund  Washington, 
who,  though  bearing  the  same  name,  and  as  has  been  said,  of  the  same  stock, 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  in  any  near  degree  of  relationship.  He  was  for 
years  manager  of  Washington's  Mount  Vernon  estate,  during  the  American 
revolution,  and  it  was  to  him  that  he  wrote  from  the  American  camp  at  Cam- 
bridge, in  1775,  a  short  time  before  he  was  joined  by  his  family,  the  celebrated 
letter  in  regard  to  the  hospitality  of  Mount  Vernon,  which  we  here  insert  Says 
he  :  "  Let  the  hospitality  of  the  house  with  respect  to  the  poor  be  kept  up.  Let 
no  'one  go  hungry  away.  If  any  of  this  kind  of  people  should  be  in  want  of 
corn,  supply  their  necessaries,  provided  it  does  not  encourage  them  to  idleness  ; 
and  I  have  no  objection  to  your  giving  my  money  in  charity  to  the  amount  of 
forty  or  fifty  pounds  a  year,  when  you  think  it  well  bestowed.  What  I  mean  by 
having  no  objection  is,  that  it  is  my  desire  it  should  be  done.  You  are  to  con- 
sider that  neither  myself  nor  -wife  is  now  in  the  way  to  do  these  good  offices." 

Note  26,  Page  22. — "  ELEANOR  PARKE  CUSTIS  AND  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 
PARKE  CUSTIS."  These  were  the  children  of  John  Parke  Custis,  the  only  child 
of  Mrs  Washington  by  her  first  husband,  Mr.  John  Parke  Custis,  that  lived  fo 
its  majority.  They  were,  when  very  young,  adopted  by  Washington. 

Note  27,  Page  23. —  This  is  the  tract  now  known  as  "  Arlington,"  which  the 
late  war  has  made  historic,  as  "Arlington  Heights."  After  the  death  of  Georpe 
W.  P.  Custis  it  descended  to  General  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  had  married  the 


daughter  of  Mr.  Custis,  and  is  now  held  by  the  United  States  as  confiscated 
property,  and  used  as  a  National  Cemetery  for  Union  Soldiers  and  home  for 
Freedmen. 

Note  28,  Page  27. — This  was  dor*  not  long  after  his  death,  and  is  the  one  hi 
which  his  remains,  with  others  of  his  family,  are  deposited, 

Note  29,  Page  28. — From  a  careful  examination  of  Records,  and  after  having 
made  diligent  enquiry,  we  can  safely  say  that,  though  so  large  and  valuable  an 
estate  was  distributed  among  so  maqy  legatees,  yet  not  one  dispute  sufficient  to 
cause  litigation  ever  arose,  ' ""  *  *- 


' 


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from  which  it  was  borm^H    ! 

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NOV  201996 
ARTS  LIBRARY 


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